Michel'le

by Alex HendersonOne of the more interesting urban contemporary vocalists of the late 80s and early 90s, the Los Angeles-based Michelle was known for having a squeaky, high-pitched speaking voice and an aggressive, full-bodied style of singing. Some people jokingly called her the Betty Boop of urban contemporary, although the Boop comparisons had more to do with her speaking voice than her singing (which could be quite gritty at times). Michelle, who is best-known for her smash hit No More Lies, favored a very hip-hop-minded approach to R&B, and that isnt the least bit surprising when you take into consideration the company that she kept. The members of N.W.A. — especially Dr. Dre and the late Eric Eazy-E Wright — were partly responsible for the success of Michelle, who pronounces her name meesh-a-lay. And her manager was music industry veteran Jerry Heller, who was also managing N.W.A. back then.Arguably, the singer was ahead of her time. Before Mary J. Blige was exalted as the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul — and before the rise of Faith Evans and Lauryn Hill — Michelle was a young neo-soulstress who had strong ties to the hip-hop world. It was in 1989 that Michelle signed with Eazy-Es Ruthless Records, which was the home of N.W.A. as well as Dallas native the D.O.C. and the female pop-rap group J.J. Fad (of Supersonic fame). Ruthless was distributed by different labels, depending on the artist. N.W.A. (one of the most important and influential groups in the history of gangsta rap) went through Priority, while the D.O.C., J.J. Fad, and Michelle were signed to Ruthless/Atlantic. Although Ruthless was primarily a rap label, Dre and Eazy wanted to branch out into urban contemporary singing; and Michelle, although quite hip-hop-influenced, was very much an urban contemporary singer. In 1989, Dre produced Michelles self-titled debut album; Eazy served as executive producer, while the mixing was handled by Dre and DJ Yella (another N.W.A. agitator). But, despite the participation of all those N.W.A. members, Michelles album didnt sound anything at all like that groups controversial and disturbing gangsta rap; and unlike N.W.A.s Straight Outta Compton, it enjoyed a great deal of exposure on urban radio. The funky No More Lies, Michelles debut single, was a major hit on the same R&B stations that went out of their way to avoid Straight Outta Compton; it was also a big pop hit and reached the Top Ten on Billboards pop singles chart. The equally funky Nicety, which was released as a single in 1990, was another major hit, and Keep Watchin (the albums third single) also fared well.In 1991, Michelle became the victim of some East Coast/West Coast rivalry; that year, Bronx rapper Tim Dog (formerly of the Ultramagnetic MCs) said some insulting things about Michelle and Dre on his angry, West Coast-bashing single Fuck Compton. Unlike the infamous, well-publicized feud that L.A.s Death Row Records/Suge Knight clique and New Yorks Puff Daddy/Bad Boy Entertainment/the Notorious B.I.G. clique had several years later, Tim Dogs war of words with the members of N.W.A. didnt turn deadly; nonetheless, Michelle was said to be furious over the things that Tim Dog said about her on Fuck Compton. But, as much attention as Michelle received in 1989 and in the early 90s, her popularity didnt last long. In 1996, the Southern Californian had a cameo on the Dogg Pounds single Lets Play House, but her second album, Hung Jury (a Priority release), didnt come out until 1998 — nine years after her self-titled debut — and it wasnt nearly the smash that Michelles previous album had been.