Chrisette Michele

Born Chrisette Michele Payne on December 8, 1982 in Central Islip, New York, the soul and R&B singer-songwriter is better-known as Chrisette Michele. She has recorded for Def Jam Records, Motown Records, and her own label Rich Hipster. Michele won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009 for her single "Be OK" (featuring will.i.am). She has collaborated with some of the biggest names in R&B, soul, and hip-hop including Nas, Kanye West, Eric Benet, 2 Chaniz, Tyrese, The Game, Jay-Z, Ghostface Killah, and others. Michele released her debut Def Jam Records album, I Am, in 2007. The album featured four singles including “Be OK”. The single hit Number 64 on the Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and went on to win a Grammy Award. Epiphany, her second solo album, was released in 2009 and debut at Number 1 on the Billboard 200. Michele’s first mixtape, Love Thy Brother, was released in early November, 2010. Her third album, Let Freedom Reign, was released three weeks later and debuted at Number 25 in the Top 200. Better, her fourth album – and first for Motown - was released in June, 2013. Better debuted at Number 12 on the Billboard 200. She left Motown and started her own label, Rich Hipster. She has released two albums on her own label: Milestone (2016) and Out Of Control (2018). In January, 2017, she courted controversy when she announced that she was going to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities. Because of the amount of negative publicity, she moved her performance from the day before inauguration to one of the inaugural balls the following day.