K. Michelle is a resilient talent of an HBCU alumnae (896 hits)
Michelle: An R&B diva on a country-led journey to Southern pop superstardom The 41-year old Memphis native discusses her authentic country roots, 10 year detour through R&B, excitement for Nashville future Marcus K. Dowling Nashville Tennessean
The internet lists Memphis native and R&B-to-country crossover singer-songwriter K. Michelle as five inches taller than fellow singer and Tennessean Dolly Parton.
But, as it often does, the internet is lying.
Standing in a rooftop office at Broadcast Music Inc.'s offices, the decade-long mainstream performer, lifelong country music fanatic, and Lifetime and VH1 reality television star is no taller than the Country Music Hall of Famer. Yet her fandom for Dolly knows no heights. The week before, K. Michelle shrieked upon seeing a mere photo of Parton backstage when she appeared at the recent BRELAND and Friends event at the Ryman Auditorium.
"I love her business sense and my producers Louis York (the Grammy-nominated duo of Claude Kelly and Chuck Harmony) have always compared me to her," K. Michelle tells The Tennessean on a Wednesday morning overlooking downtown Nashville.
"When they hear me sing R&B songs and labels want songs that are 'more hood,' Claude and Chuck laugh and reply, 'What if K. Michelle really ain't hood?' We're only musicians — we're not doctors who can remove the Dolly influence out of her! That's who she is."
That sentiment is echoed by Mia McNeal, senior director of industry relations & inclusion at the Country Music Association.
"K. Michelle is an undeniably charismatic talent — and because trust me, I know country when I see it and hear it — more than anything, she's authentically a country girl," says Mia McNeal.
As a native of Louann, Arkansas, McNeal knows of what she speaks. The town has a population of 150 people and is located 30 miles from the state's border with Louisiana.
Image notes: K. Michelle at BMI in Nashville , Tenn., Wednesday, April 12, 2023.
"I'm over the moon that she's recording country music. Her authenticity will aid many artists who are helping develop a broader, safer artistic haven for so many artists in the genre."
Clearly, if K. Michelle is sitting on a Music Row rooftop as a BMI-signed songwriter after debuting at both songwriting haunt the Bluebird Cafe and country music's Mother Church — during an era where Black country artists are finally receiving award nominations, achieving chart-topping success, having pop culture crossovers and selling out arenas — many in country music, like the internet, have recently lied, too.
Black artists are appealing to country music's predominantly white fanbase.
