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Chrisette Michele Interview

Chrisette Michele: Like A Dream By Norman Mayers Def Jam recording artist Chrisette Michele is a talent of the highest order. After arriving on the scene on Nas’ Nat King Cole sampling “Can’t Forget About You” and Jay-Z’ “Lost Ones”, Chrisette has released her debut album, simply entitled I Am. As both a singer and songwriter she has crafted a piece of work that spans traditional soul, pop, and hip-hop. Armed with a unique vocal style that recalls Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald, Chrisette Michele is poised to join the ranks of such singular contemporary talents as Jill Scott, Alicia Keyes and Erykah Badu. One listen to I Am and you will be hooked on this striking new talents impressive vocal range and hip-hop swagger. Nu-Soul: You really had your coming out on recent tracks by Nas and Jay-Z. What was it like to receive your first exposure into the media on such high profile projects? Chrisette: Really exciting. I didn’t actually believe I was on them until I saw my name in print and heard my song on the radio. Nu-Soul: So what’s it like actually working for Jay-Z? Chrisette: I never really looked at it like I’m working for him. I think he’s working for me. That’s how I look at it. (laughs) He came to me and said I’m going to push you how you have always dreamed to be. Go ahead and write whatever songs you want. Go ahead and find the producers you like and put an album together. He didn’t say no to anything that I asked for so I feel it’s more of a collaboration more than him being my boss. Nu-Soul: So for those people who haven’t heard your album yet how would you describe your musical style? Chrisette: My musical style is definitely a mixture of R&B, hip-hop and soul. An exciting combination of the three. I was trained vocally as a jazz student. My idols are people like Ella Fitzgerald. I guess if you put all those things together you get Chrisette Michele. Nu-Soul: The title of the album is simply I Am. Were you making a conscious effort to keep things simple with that title? Chrisette: The music is so varied that I thought it would be necessary to have a simple title. And then “I Am” describes so many different things. It helps you to understand that I’m not just one thing. I Am Chrisette Michele and Chrisette Michele is actually quite complicated. Nu-Soul: What song has the most meaning for you on the album? Chrisette: Right now at this particular moment I would say “Be Ok”. That’s because just yesterday I was talking to a young lady who had just broken up with her boyfriend and that song helped her go to the mall and pick up a cute black dress and move on from the situation. Nu-Soul: So you got to work with Babyface. How life changing was that experience? Chrisette: It was very exciting. I thought that he was going to give me music to perform in a studio booth. Instead he gave me a pencil to write with in a studio and he pulled out his guitar and I wrote every word of every song we did together. So that was exciting and I was a little bit nervous because he is one of my favorite writers of all time. Nu-Soul: So pretty much he let you do what you do? Chrisette: He let me do what I do. The first thing he said was “So what do you want to do? A ballad? Up-tempo?” He was very hands off. It was definitely a very exciting collaborative experience. And I’m so honored to be a part of anything that Babyface has put together. Nu-Soul: You also worked with Will.I.Am on a few of the albums more up-tempo tracks. How did that whole collaboration come about? Chrisette: I went into L.A. Reid’s office and I said I need to get some hip-hop on this CD. I can’t go out with any hip-hop on this CD! He says, “So who do you want to work with?” Will.I.Am was my first choice. And he said okay, let’s get Will.I.Am. And that was it. And we had so much fun in the studio. That was probably one of my favorite experiences on the album. Working with him. We did six songs together. So on the next album we’ll be using some leftovers from me and Will.I.Am, which were so much fun to record. Nu-Soul: Who would you say has influenced you both as a vocalist and as a songwriter? Chrisette: You know what? Babyface. When you listen to “Best of Me” and even “Your Joy”, his whole tone and the simplicity that he puts forth was definitely an inspiration. And Ella Fitzgerald was a beast in the studio. She told the horns what to do. She told the pianos what to do. And her voice was so bubbly and alive and full of fun so she definitely inspired me in both areas. Nu-Soul: This summer you are hitting the road with Musiq Soulchild. What can fans expect to see in your live show? Chrisette: I’ll be coming out with some pretty ladies. My homegirl backup singers. We’re going to have on pretty dresses. And we’re going to have a blast on the stage. I’m going to laugh a lot. I’ll be calling peoples names out. It’s just going to be a lot of fun. I think people will know a lot of the words to the songs so we’re just going to rock it. A real colorful performance. A lot of fun! Nu-Soul: So what’s been the most rewarding part of your journey so far? Chrisette: Getting to meet so many beautiful people and getting to talk to so many wonderful people. I don’t think people know how wonderful it is for me to meet fans. You get to hear so many stories about people’s lives. Nu-Soul: So now after the relentless promoting of the album and the touring, what’s on the horizon for you? Chrisette: Relentless? It hasn’t been relentless yet. I’m waiting until I don’t get any sleep. I’m waiting for it to get crazy. Right now I’m looking forward to working. For real for real. I want to see what all the hype is about! Chrisette Michele’s website Chrisette Michele on myspace

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