Adam Blackstone, Estelle Share New Song 'What You Won't Be'

Award-winning musician and musical director Adam Blackstone has enlisted genre-defying artist Estelle for his new single “What You Won’t Be.” It was co-written by Estelle and Camper, who also co-produced it with Blackstone.

On the jazzy track, Estelle unapologetically reinforces boundaries between her tender heart and a lover who has grown too comfortable with disrespect. She acknowledges that his behavior may stem from past baggage, but it’s on him to do self-work. Either way, she’s through with being patient, closing out the ballad with: “I deserve more / I deserve new / I deserve anything, anyone but you.”

Speaking on “What You Won’t Be,” Blackstone shared in an Instagram post, “We creating a new Jazz standard with this one!! All about SOUL & SONICS!! & This song DEF feels like One of them ole’ ELLA, DINAH WASHINGTON, BILLIE Joints, but with a new school bop! Get into it and feel the vibes!!!”

“What You Won’t Be” is the second single from Blackstone’s new album, Humble Magic, Vol. 1, which drops Aug. 22 via BASSic Black Entertainment Records/EMPIRE.

Adam Blackstone's Humble Magic album cover — BASSic Black Entertainment Records/Anderson Music Group

The album will also include the Fantasia-led “Summertime,” a reimagined version of the 1935 song composed by George Gershwin for his opera, Porgy and Bess. It’s also the song that Fantasia performed on the season finale of American Idol in 2004, where she was crowned winner.

According to pre-order information, Humble Magic consists of nine tracks featuring additional collaborations with Queen Latifah, Trombone Shorty, James Poyser, Questlove, Keyon Harrold and more.

Humble Magic follows Blackstone’s debut album, Legacy, released in 2022. The album included the Grammy-nominated “‘Round Midnight” with Jazmine Sullivan, as well as songs with Latifah, Kirk Franklin, Jill Scott, Mary Mary, The Baylor Project and more.

“I would describe it as a labor of love from all parts,” Blackstone told Rated R&B of Legacy. “We went through this pandemic… I lost some people — some friends, a cousin. And what I didn’t want to do was leave this earth with a laptop full of ideas. I decided to buckle down [for about] 40 days and make this record. I put some phone calls out to some people that I have hopefully impacted in their music careers and their legacy.”

Stream Adam Blackstone and Estelle’s new song “What You Won’t Be” and see the tracklist for Humble Magic below.