After her breakthough album Shine, British songstress-rapper [artist id="1916698"]Estelle[/artist] has returned with a new single, "Freak," from her forthcoming album, [article id="1627307"]All of Me.[/article]

However, the song's video -- segments of which show her wearing black makeup on her face and body -- did not go over well with some of her fans online.

"Those comments were the first thing I saw after we released the video trailer," Estelle told MTV News on Monday (March 1). "It's like, 'Are you joking?' "

The "Freak" clip was directed by [article id="1632384"]frequent Kanye West collaborator Nabil Elderkin[/article] and the song itself is a bouncy dance-track produced by David Guetta, featuring Canadian MC Kardinal Offishall. The lyrics address people releasing their individuality and the clip features Estelle in a multitude of looks, including black body paint. However, the director said it's meant to be in fun.

"We are making a video about Estelle acting freaky and we're gonna do lots of things: turns, fingers, beauty looks, freaky looks, fast dancers, it's gonna be hot," Elderkin says in the clip's promotional trailer. (The director was unavailable for comment at press time.)

Estelle said she and the director are longtime friends and he understands that her creative vision is "coming from a place of art versus just trying to be different." She also declined to address the online chatter directly.

"I think they need to wait to see the clip. I could defend myself, but it's just silly," Estelle said of the comments. "I'm black, so how do I do blackface? Missy did the same thing [with her video] "She's a Bitch." I refuse to defend it, I didn't put any white ring around my mouth -- never that."

Estelle said the "Freak" video will hit the web this week and her album will hits shelves this summer.