April 19, 2007 @ 3:39 pm
NEXT: Chrisette Michele
This girl says she's adult - and she's contemporary.
Chrisette Michele, 24, wants to think of a story, some snippet from her life that might make her sound tough. "As I do more interviews, I'm realizing that I'm the biggest cornball," she says, snuggled under a blanket on the bottom bunk of her 13-year-old brother's bed in their Patchogue, NY home. "Growing up, we'd decorate the neighborhood with Christmas lights and back cookies," the former Girl Scout recalls, unable to come up with anything more sinister. "Now when I'm home, I'm up out of this bed cleaning church lights, going to schools, talking to young girls. Oh my goodness, that's why I'm alive."
Of course, Michele also lives to make music. Raised by a deacon father and gospel choir director mother, Chrisette Michele Payne - a former member of her high school student government, choir, step team, pep squad and African-American Club - says she's "the biggest nerd." But Michele had better get used to being cool; her church-bred vocals now grace two of the hottest hooks in hip hop, Jay-Z's "Lost One" and Nas' "Can't Forget About You."
As a performance major at Long Island's Five Towns College, Michele started putting her bluesy, Billie Holiday-esque vocals to the test at open mics throughout New York City. Spotted by India.Arie one night, she soon began opening for soul stars Angie Stone and Kem, as well as Arie. "My whole thing was, I hope they don't think I'm limited to being a neo-soul artist," she says. "I love Celine Dion. I love Whitney Houston. I love adult contemporary pop music."
And that influence, along with jazz and gospel, is apparent on Michele's Def Jam Recordings as-yet untitled debut, which Michele wrote in its entirety. "I met a lot of bitter people who said, 'You're not gonna make it, you're too fat, your hair's not right,'" Michele says. "Whatever! I thank God my parents taught me who I was."
Previous: RockoPage printed from:
http://www.vibe.com/music/next/2007/04/next_chrisette_michele/
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