Soul singer Chrisette Michele talks about her current EP Lyricists Opus, that will be released as a full CD in November on her own label, Rich Hipster. Her first single is out September 6, with a full release coming in November.
“The EP has been really fun to sing and play but we’re working on a new record called Milestone Minimalism,” says Michele. She says her songs, which have helped Sherri Shepherd and many others get through some rough times, are definitely influenced by her relationships.
“I’ve had some really tough relationships and I’ve been incredibly brokenhearted and I’ve been incredibly healed,” Michele says. Her song ‘Best of Me’ was inspired by Babyface, who was going through a divorce at the time. “When I finished, he said ‘You just wrote that just now?’ Sometimes you just feel somebody’s energy and its easier to write about them than yourself. It’s a little embarrassing to its easier to pull what you’re feeling from somebody else.”
As for her love life now, Chrisette says, she’s in love with herself and the Lord. “I”m having a new kind of spiritual life and it’s greater that I’ve ever had. I’ve sat with Kirk Franklin and Kim Burrell and they’ve been pulling out of me things that I never knew that I had. My love life is in music right now,” says Michele.
Michele is influenced by more than love. Her song “Make Us One” is about the colorism she experienced while in Africa.
“It’s so strange that everywhere you go, there’s something,” Michele says.
As for her foray into the R&B Divas reality world, Michele says that she’s not going back to that venue.
“I didn’t like that show,” says Michele. “It was fun being followed around with cameras all day. That’s a blast. I feel very famous and it’s Hollywood. I didn’t like it when it comes on television. I didn’t mind the edits, because my responses were my responses. It was those circumstances that I didn’t create.”
Michele is much more excited about her new label. But she says being her own boss can be challenging.
“It’s a little intimidating because I can be harsh and give myself a lot of pressure,” she says. “And my shoe closet is pretty bad. I’ve got to just tell myself Yes or No sometimes. You have to have discipline, especially with spending for album creation. You want a full orchestra but sometimes you might have to get four strings and stack them a few times.”
Michele is performing with Boney James and Brian McKnight tomorrow night in Dallas, July 31st.
Click the link above to hear the entire interview.
Like BlackAmericaWeb.com on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.
