June 19, 2007 @ 6:52 pm

MY ALBUM'S OUT: Chrisette Michele

Julianne Shepherd

Chrisette Michele. That heartbreaking, jazzed catch in her throat. After stamping tracks by labelmates Jay-Z ("Lost Ones") and Nas ("Can't Forget About You"), the fierce singer showcases her rich voice and romantic outlook on her Def Jam debut I Am - released today, including collaborations with the likes of Babyface, will.i.am and John Legend. On the eve of its release, VIBE called Ms. Michele just to see what was up. Your album drops today. What are you doing?
I'm going to do some radio shows. Then I'm going to get my nails done, my hair done and my make-up done. Then I'm going to try on a few dresses and pick one for my party. What are you gonna wear?
Can I keep it a secret? But I'll just tell you, it's gonna be a really sexy dress. A really pretty, pretty girly dress. I'm excited. I'm very happy I was able to play such a major role in creating I Am. It is me - I feel like it's really about Chrisette Michele and I'm happy I'm able to share that with so many people. What do you mean it is you?
It's me finding out who I am. The album is the story of someone finding out who they are and making the decision to give back to as many people as they can. Recognizing they're amazing on the inside and letting it show on the outside. I think [it's hard to find out who you are], that everybody needs a little motivation - that's what we all need each other for. It may take Chrisette Michele to tell somebody to look inside and find the beautiful person that's in there. We just need motivation. Have you found it hard to get your love-message out in this industry?
I haven't found it hard at all. I'm so excited that Def Jam believes in me. LA Reid, the day that he heard me, signed me. He gave me a new way to look at myself. He said, you know what Chrisette? People are going to love you, people are going to appreciate what you are saying, and people are going to gravitate towards you. So I'm excited. Did you feel that way before you met LA Reid?
I was raised on self-esteem. That's what my mom fed me all the time. So I definitely had a lot of positive people around me to tell me I could do anything I wanted to do. I did see myself being who I am today in so many ways. Of course, I didn't know it would be LA Reid who cosigned. I didn't know will.i.am and John Legend would be on my first album. I didn't know that Babyface would play on my first single! It's bigger than I thought it was. In so many ways. It's who I knew I'd be, but it's even greater. What was it like working with Babyface?
He was so easy to work with. The day that I walked into his studio was nighttime. And nighttime in Los Angeles is like four o'clock in the morning in New York. We are the city that doesn't sleep. They are the city that sleeps. So it was nine o clock at night. He handed me a pencil, and pulled out his guitar and got straight to it. I wrote that whole song after asking him a few questions about his life and who he loved. He ended up telling me that he loved his children. And I wrote "Your Joy." And then I wrote "The Best of Me." We got along very well. And I have a lot of love for my daddy and he has a lot of love for me. But my favorite song is "The Best of Me," because it challenges everybody to look inside themselves and take out the beautiful person that's in there and showcase it for the rest of the world to see. Is it true that your mother and Nas's mother grew up together in Queensbridge?
No, my mother and Nas both grew up in the same building in the Queensbridge projects and my grandmother still lives in that same building so when my mother met Nas's father, they had a lot to talk about. It was just interesting that my mother would have grown up in the same place as him and years later I would grow up and sing with him. Small world. Name some songs you love.
"The Girl from Ipanema" was the first jazz song that I ever heard, and that made me fall in love with jazz. Kim Burrell's "Victory" was the first gospel song that I really began to study and fall in love with gospel music. You know what song is really good? "Deliver" by Good Charlotte. They made me fall in love with alternative again. That genre isn't really doing good but those guys are doing something really great in rock. It's really good. Oh, you know what? Can I keep it a hundred percent real? I love Beyonce's, what's that song with the pink in the video? "Check On It," I love that song, I love that video. First of all, pink is my favorite color, so that joint just made me wanna go be a girl, go sing in the shower, just have a good time with life. I'm a girly girl. I love being a girl. I love celebrating my womanhood. Nail polish, shoes and strength.

Article tags: MY, ALBUM'S, OUT, Chrisette, Michele 

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http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2007/06/chrisette_michele_i_am/

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