Michel'le - Michel'le
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Free Music Notes for Michel'le
Free Music Review: Gotta Disagree...
Hit: 4 Stars
I recognize what Mary has done for the "hip hop soul" genre, but umm....didn't Jodeci come out before her? And let's not forget that Bell Biv Devoe's multiplatinum debut was "hip hop smoothed out on the r&b tip with a pop feel appeal to it" despite their constantly being mislabeled as new jack swing artists (just peep the album -- crazy hip hop beats). If you want to go back even further, one could argue that New Jack Swing is the father of hip hop soul because acts like Bobby Brown, Tony Toni Tone, En Vogue, and plenty others were either rapping themselves or using rappers in their songs and many other acts before Mary were rapping and blurring the lines between the two genres. I think there are plenty of artists that helped create the "lane" that Mary is currently driving in. In other words, Mary wasn't first and she gets WAY too much credit. She took a title that was thrust upon her by the biggest shark in the industry (let's face it, Puffy doesn't have an original bone in his body), and ran with it. He got the idea from someone else, trust. And, naturally, the albums have two different sounds...there's a three (almost four) year gap in between the two releases ('89 & '92). Anyone that knows anything about hip hop (or soul, for that matter) knows that this was the period in which the sound of hip hop and r&b as a whole were turning in a different direction -- it went from a fun, party vibe (like Kid N Play, De La, or Dana Dane) to a more hardcore, gangsta sound (Snoop, EPMD, Ice Cube, Geto Boys, etc). I will give her this much, she did rap on her album....but so did Bobby Brown. You could also argue that Michel'le's debut was indeed a hip hop soul album because when it came out in '89, the uptempo joints on her album sounded precisely like what hip hop sounded like at that time.
Oh, and Michel'le's album is dope. Hands down. Her voice was great and the album is of high quality. Jams like Nicety, If, No More Lies, and the timeless slow jam Something In My Heart not only show off the woman's incredible vocal range, but also show Dr. Dre's range as a producer (something that he rarely shows anymore). I highly recommend adding this album to your collection...dated or not. Oh, and Michel'le did make a second album. It's entitled Hung Jury back in '98 and I think it was released on Death Row records....but don't quote me.
Peace.
Free Music Review: This album is no What's the 411? - Two different sounds
Hit: 3 Stars
I disagree with the reviewer that compared Michel'le to Mary. Mary and Michel'les styling is like apples and oranges. Michel'le was New Jack Swing where Mary was Hip Hop Soul. Michel'le is in the same category as Karyn White, Jody Waltey, Pebble, etc. Mary was raw and hood - not just in her music but her overall vibe. The music represented Mary; Mary didn't represent the music. Michel'le never came off as an "around-the-way" girl to me. Michel'le didn't give off those qualities. She came off as this sophiscated, suburban, college girl - she seemed out of place to me rolling with N.W.A. Another thing, What's the 411? still sounds fresh today. Where as, Michel'le sounds, as you stated, dated. The two albums have two different sounds. There were plenty of females before Mary and Michel'le to combine Rnb and Hip Hop..I mean Teddy Riley gets the credit for that...that's New Jack Swing...but as far as Hip Hop Soul, that's Mary's lane. She was the first (of course with the help) to make a sound . What's the 411? was like no other album. That was a new sound and new image --an image and that has been duplicated so many times I can't begin to count. Michel'le was a great vocalist , and I am a fan of this album, but she didn't set any trends. Also the 'respect me as a women ' attitude has been going on since Aretha Franklin's "R-E-S-P-E-C-T". Salt n Pepa? They came out in '86 talking about women demanding respect way before Michel'le.
I'll say that Dr Dre may have wanted, in their minds, to accomplish what Andre Harrell and Puffy did with Mary but they didn't. Again, Mary took it somewhere Michel'le did not.
Free Music Review: Excellent.
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is good all the way through ,based on the time it was released in 1989. The slow songs featured on this album are among my all time favorites, such as "If" & "Silly Love Song". The song writing is better than I expected from a Rap record company, and the Piano playing on "If" is very good. A solid buy.Free Music Review: Dr. Dre's Mary J. Blige Project
Hit: 4 Stars
I love me some Mary and she reigns as the undisputed Queen of Hip Hop Soul!
But truth is, Puffy found him a starlette from Yonkers with a voice perfect for the more hardcore, hip hop R&B sound AFTER Dr. Dre's experiment with Michel'le three years before.
In my opinion, this album was the first to show a marriage between hip hop and R&B had a future.
Sassy, sexy and smart with a big-time voice, the album "Michel'le (pronounced Michelle-lay)" sounds as dated now as its 1989 release but it's still the jam.
I'm not sure why we never got a followup from her. She definitely had more talent than most of the women who'd follow with this style.
The classic tracks on this LP are Michel'le's re-make of "Something In My Heart" which she covered with all the style and passion of the original in my mind.
"Nicety" was the first hit single from this album, also a classic track, which finds Michel'le trumpeting the same "Love Me but Respect Me as a Woman" vibe the was echoed by Salt-N-Pepa, En Vogue and eventually by Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans and Aaliyah.
Recommended for 1990s hip hop/R&B fans.
Free Music Review: Thank God she didn't choose acting instead
Hit: 3 Stars
It's fortunate that this chick can sing as well as she does, because hearing her actually speak makes you want to really plug up your ears tight. Her biggest hits were the uptempo jams "No More Lies" and "Nicety" but she's at her best on slow ballads like "Something In My Heart" and "Close To Me".