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Chrisette Michele extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Chrisette Michele
Photo by Jalylah Burrell
Background information
Birth name	Chrisette Michele Payne
Born	December 8, 1982 (1982-12-08) (age 26)
Origin	Patchogue, New York, United States1
Genre(s)	Soul, R&B, neo soul, jazz
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, piano
Voice type(s)	Mezzo-soprano, contralto
Years active	2006–present
Label(s)	Island Def Jam
Website	www.thisischrisettemichele.com

Chrisette Michele Payne (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Chrisette Michele, is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter on the Island Def Jam Music Group.² She won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009 for her song "Be OK".

Contents 1 Biography 2 Music career 2.1 Beginnings 2.2 I Am (2007) 2.3 Epiphany (2009) 3 Awards and nominations 4 Discography 4.1 Albums 4.2 Singles 4.3 Featured singles 5 References 6 External links

Biography

Michele was born in Central Islip, New York, and grew up in Patchogue to parents who worked as deacons to their church. This connection inspired her to reflect on childhood memories in her own debut album. She sings in a jazz style reminiscent of singers such as Sarah Vaughn, Jill Scott, Macy Gray, Erykah Badu, and Ella Fitzgerald.

The daughter of a deacon father and choir director mother, she led gospel choirs in high school. She attended Five Towns College in Dix Hills, New York, and graduated with a vocal performance degree.³

Music career

Beginnings

Michele has been featured on several popular hip hop albums. Most recently she was featured on The Game's album LAX on "Let Us Live". On Jay-Z's Kingdom Come she was featured on the second single "Lost One", while on Nas' Hip Hop Is Dead, she was featured three times: on the album's second single "Can't Forget About You", the Kanye West-produced "Still Dreaming", and the final track "Hope". Recently she also appeared on the bonus track "Slow Down", from Ghostface Killah's The Big Doe Rehab.

I Am (2007)

Michele's debut album, I Am, was released on June 18, 2007. The song "Your Joy" was released on iTunes as a free single of the week. The album spawned four singles: "If I Have My Way", "Best of Me", "Be OK", and "Love Is You". The album's lead single "If I Have My Way" charted at number four on Billboard's Hot Adult R&B Airplay and number twenty-four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Following its success, "Best of Me" charted on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks at number twenty-one. In December 2007, "Be OK" was released as the third single, charting at number sixty-four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number twenty-one on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay. In 2008, "Love Is You" was released as the album's fourth and final single on the album; it reached number ninety on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number twenty on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay.

Epiphany (2009)

In 2008, Michele appeared on the track "Rising Up" from The Roots' album Rising Down. Michele guest starred as herself in The CW's Girlfriends, in the episode entitled "What's Black-a-Lackin'?", which originally aired on February 11, 2008. She also wrote a song for Tyler Perry's House of Payne entitled "I've Gotta Love Jones". The video premiered in 2008 on television, though the song is not publicly available.⁴ From May to July 2008 Michele embarked on a nationwide co-headlining tour with fellow soul singer Raheem DeVaughn called the Art of Love Tour; Solange Knowles served as the opening act.⁵ In September 2008, Michele performed twice at the Evening of Stars: A Tribute to Patti Labelle.

In mid-2008, Michele began recording for her second album, Epiphany. In January 2009, "Epiphany" was released as the album's lead single.⁶⁷⁸⁹ Released on May 5, 2009, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 selling 83,000 copies in its opening week.¹⁰

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
2007	Vibe Music Award	Breakthrough Artist of the Year	Chrisette Michele	Nominated
2008	Grammy Award	Best Female R&B Vocal Performance	"If I Have My Way"	Nominated
	BET Award	Best New Artist	Chrisette Michele	Nominated
	BET J Virtual Awards	Soul Approved	Chrisette Michele	Won
		Female Artist of the Year	Chrisette Michele	Nominated
	NAACP Image Award	Outstanding New Artist	Chrisette Michele	Nominated
2009	Grammy Award	Best Urban/Alternative Performance	"Be OK"	Won

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Chart positions		Sales and Certifications
		U.S.	U.S. R&B
2007	I Am Debut studio album Released: June 19, 2007	29	5	U.S. sales: 432,00011
2009	Epiphany Second studio album Released: May 5, 2009	1	1	U.S. sales: 188,244

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions				Album
		U.S.	U.S. R&B	U.S. adult R&B	U.S. AC
2007	"If I Have My Way"	113	24	4	—	I Am
	"Best of Me"	—	—	—	21
	"Be OK" (featuring will.i.am)	—	61	21	—
2008	"Love Is You"	—	90	20	—
2009	"Epiphany"	89	14	9	—	Epiphany
	"Blame It on Me"	—	61	20	—
	"What You Do" (featuring Ne-Yo)12	—	99	—	—

Featured singles

Year	Single	Chart positions				Album
		U.S.	U.S. R&B	U.S. adult R&B	U.S. AC
2006	"Lost One" (Jay-Z featuring Chrisette Michele)	58	19	—	—	Kingdom Come
2007	"Can't Forget About You" (Nas featuring Chrisette Michele)	—	46	40	—	Hip Hop Is Dead
2008	"Let Us Live" (The Game featuring Chrisette Michele)	—	—	—	—	LAX
	"Rising Up" (The Roots featuring Wale & Chrisette Michele)	—	—	—	—	Rising Down
	"Slow Down" (Ghostface Killah featuring Chrisette Michele)	-	-	—	—	The Big Doe Rehab

References

External links

• Official website
• Chrisette Michele on Def Jam Recordings
• Chrisette Michele at Allmusic
• Chrisette Michele at the Internet Movie Database