The second single was originally scheduled to be What You Do featuring label-mate Ne-Yo, but was changed at the last minute.

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Born Chrisette Michele Payne on December 8, 1982 in Central Islip, New York, she grew up in a church-heavy household in Patchogue, New York, and her life as a performer began early as she sang with the choir of her parents church congregation.

After a high school teacher gave her a CD to Astrud Gilberto s The Girl From Ipanema, her first exposure to secular music, she enrolled vocal performance programs at Five Towns College, where she would study Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, and Frank Sinatra as models for her career prior to her graduation.

Most of her first effort consisted of music Chrisette had begun recording or writing prior to signing to Def Jam; with assistance from John Legend, Salaam Remi, and Babyface, the album earned a Gold certification, topped at 5 in the Ramp;BHip Hop chart, and a Top 30 spot in the Billboard 200.

Her Grammy came from the song Be Ok, featuring Will.I.Am, for Best UrbanAlternative Performance in 2009.

She took on more features and songwriting gigs with The Roots, Ghostface Killah, The Game, and Wale, solidifying her growing hip hop fan base in time for her second album, Epiphany on May 5, 2009, which is still her best-selling album to date.

It debuted at 1 with 83,000 first-week sales, knocking over Bob Dylans Together Through Life from the top of the Billboard chart.

With major production or assistance from Ne-Yo and Darkchild, the singles Epiphany and Blame It On Me took over urban radio and made her one of Def Jams top artists.

In 2010, as she completed her first solo headlining tour, The Epiphany Tour, she was featured on the Rick Ross hit Aston Martin Music with fellow singer-songwriter Drake, another Top 30 release and her best-selling feature to date.

Her next album, Let Freedom Reign came out on November 30 of that same year and was Chrisettes third consecutive Top 30 OverallTop 10 Ramp;BHip Hop Billboard album.

Better earned her a second Grammy nomination and the 12 spot on the Billboard (2 on the Ramp;BHip Hop chart).

She departed from Island Def Jam and formed her own company Rich Hipster, so she could become CEO of her life; it entails a clothing line, Rich Hipster Belle, music school Rich Hipster University, and label distributed by CapitalCarolina Records, under which Chrisettes fifth album Milestone was released on June 10, 2016.

By this time, she had also self-released a 2014 EP The Lyricists Opus and 3 mixtapes from 2010-2016 on her own.

She wrote an open letter, stating We Cant Be Present If Were Silenced.

At the same time, she announced an upcoming poetry album) and released its title track, No Political Genius, and another poem, Summertime, saying that she was going to keep releasing poems until I get them all of my chestIm gonna keep going until I feel empty.

While she ultimately did not perform next to Trump on the Capitol Steps during the Make America Great Again Inauguration Gala as planned, she did get on stage during the Liberty Ball dance later that night.

It appears Rich Hipster has begun a period of creative overhaul under construction as all its websites and material are no longer available, but Rich Hipster University (RHU) is still offering song writing classes led by Michele herself.

Biggs, also known as one of the late Chinx s managers, has become Chrisettes manager once more as well.

Her brother is rapper and frequent collaborator Lem Payne.,markdown:While most recognized for her featured artist contributions, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Chrisette Michele has produced a 1 album and numerous Billboard-charting records to her own credit.

After a high school teacher gave her a CD to Astrud Gilberto(artistsAstrud-Gilberto)s The Girl From Ipanema, her first exposure to secular music, she enrolled vocal performance programs at Five Towns College( ), where she would study Ella Fitzgerald(artistsElla-Fitzgerald), Billie Holliday(artistsBillie-Holliday), and Frank Sinatra(artistsFrank-Sinatra) as models for her career prior to her graduation.

By the next year she had scored featured artists credits on records alongside Jay-Z(artistsJay-Z), Nas(artistsNas), and Kanye West(artistsKanye-West) and her debut album, I Am( ), was released with strong success.

Most of her first effort consisted of music Chrisette had begun recording or writing prior to signing to Def Jam; with assistance from John Legend(artistsJohn-Legend), Salaam Remi(artistsSalaam-Remi), and Babyface(artistsBabyface), the album earned a Gold certification, topped at 5 in the RBHip Hop chart, and a Top 30 spot in the Billboard 200.

Her Grammy came from the song Be Ok( ), featuring Will.I.Am(artistsWilliam), for Best UrbanAlternative Performance in 2009.nnAfter opening up for Kem(artistsKem) and Angie Stone(artistsAngie-Stone) on their tours, Chrisette co-headlined The Art of Love Tour with Raheem DeVaughn(artistsRaheem-DeVaughn) and opening artist Solange Knowles(artistsSolange) in 2008.

She took on more features and songwriting gigs with The Roots(artistThe Roots), Ghostface Killah(artistsGhostface-Killah), The Game(artistsThe-Game), and Wale(artistsWale), solidifying her growing hip hop fan base in time for her second album, Epiphany( ) on May 5, 2009, which is still her best-selling album to date.

Chrisette Michele Songs