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Michel'le

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Not to be confused with Mitchelle'l.
Michel'le
Michel'le performing in 2015
Michel'le performing in 2015
Background information
Birth nameMichel'le Denise Toussaint
Born (1970-12-05) December 5, 1970 (age 53)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • rapper
Years active1987–present
Labels

Michel'le Denise Toussant (/mɪʃɛlˈeɪ/ mish-el-AY;[1] born December 5, 1970),[2] also spelled Toussaint, is an American R&B singer known for her songs from 1989 to the early 1990s. Her highest charting song is the top ten US Hot 100 hit "No More Lies". Between 2013 and 2015, Michel'le was one of six members on the TV One reality show R&B Divas: Los Angeles. She is also the subject of the 2016 biopic Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le.

Career

[edit]
Michel'le in 1990

Michel'le, a native of California, was originally a featured female vocalist of World Class Wreckin' Cru's 1987 single "Turn Off the Lights". She was called at the last minute to record vocals for Mona Lisa, who could not make it to the studio. Michel'le was signed to Eazy-E's Ruthless Records. In 1989, her self-titled debut album was released, produced entirely by then-boyfriend, rapper Dr. Dre. The album contained the single "No More Lies" which peaked at No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100,[3] and the hit R&B singles "Nicety" and "Something in My Heart". Michel'le was certified Gold on April 25, 1990, for sales of over 500,000 copies in the US.[4] During the Suge Knight shakedown incident, Jerry Heller was forced to sign over Dr. Dre, The D.O.C. and Michel'le.[5] The West Coast All-Stars, in which she had a role, scored a nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 33rd Grammy Awards for the single "We're All in the Same Gang" - the West Coast All-Stars also included MC Hammer, Young MC, Ice-T, JJ Fad as well as N.W.A members Dr. Dre, MC Ren, and Eazy-E.[6][7]

In 1998, nine years after the release of her first album, she released her second album, Hung Jury, on Death Row Records but it garnered little attention and no hit singles. As of 2013, worldwide sales for the album stood at under 100,000 copies. Michel'le also provided vocals on 2Pac's song "Run tha Streets" on his album All Eyez on Me, and Tha Dogg Pound's song "Let's Play House" on their debut Dogg Food. Soon after Dr. Dre's departure from Death Row Records in 1996, Michel'le and Dr. Dre parted ways after he became engaged to another woman.[8]

Michel'le contributed to the soundtrack Dysfunktional in 2003. She has since confirmed through several media outlets that she's been working on new material and looking for a label for her third album. In 2011 and 2014, Michel'le released new singles "Freedom to Love" and "It Still Hurts", though she hasn't released an album since 1998.[9] A trailer video for her single "Freedom to Love" can be seen on YouTube.[10]

In 2013, Michel'le was part of the cast of TV One's R&B Divas LA.[11]

Her character was left out of the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton,[12] even though she played a role in N.W.A. Michel'le was included in the notorious N.W.A diss track No Vaseline on Ice Cube's 1991 double platinum effort, Death Certificate, in a reference to a video the group made with the female singer. This omission gave her the opportunity to tell her story. On October 15, 2016, Lifetime aired a biopic about her life titled Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le.[13] She was portrayed by Rhyon Nicole Brown.[14] It tells the story of her abusive relationship with Dr. Dre and Suge Knight, her experiences with Ruthless Records, and the journey she went through to find herself. Her intentions with the biopic is to help encourage other victims of domestic violence.

Michel'le was cast as herself in the stage play Love Jones: The Musical.[15][16]

Personal life

[edit]

Michel'le met Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Romelle Young, at 16 years old when doing a vocal part for a group known as the World Class Wreckin' Cru. The song was titled as "Turn Off the Lights" and was released in 1987. It later peaked at No. 54 on the Billboard Charts.[17][18] They began dating a few months after meeting one another. Michel'le was still 16 and later turned 17 in December, and Dre, who had a baby on the way from a previous relationship, was 22.[19] The couple later became engaged and had their son, Marcel, in February 1991. Marcel was Michel'le's first child and Dre's sixth.[20] After their son was born, their relationship became more strained due to Dre's drinking, infidelity and volatile behavior. Michel'le has stated that Dre was physically abusive throughout their relationship. Her injuries included a broken nose (which she had to have surgically corrected), a cracked rib and five black eyes.[17][21] She recalled on The Breakfast Club[22] that during an argument, Dre shot at Michel'le, missing her by inches. She left the bullet in the door for him to see and said, "he never tried to shoot me anymore. Thank God. But the beatings were—it was a lot… His last wife, I just couldn't do it anymore. It's too much."[23] She then began to self medicate with prescription pills and alcohol.[8] Michel'le left Dre after she discovered that he was engaged to another woman.[8]

At her lowest point with Dre, Death Row Records CEO/co-founder Suge Knight stepped in to help get Michel'le clean by sending her to rehab. In 1999, Michel'le married Suge while he was in prison.[17] She filed for divorce six years later. Michel'le discovered that her marriage to Suge was invalid through the divorce process because he was still married to his ex-wife Sharitha. Michel'le stated Suge hit her once, dislocating her jaw.[24] They have a daughter, Bailei (b. 2002).[25] In 2009, Michel'le went to court over unpaid spousal and child support from Suge.

In 2015, after Dre was criticized for omitting his past of abusing women in the film Straight Outta Compton, he issued a statement to The New York Times apologizing to the women he has hurt. Michel'le did not think the apology was genuine and said she believed he released the statement to protect his brand. "He apologized to the public. I don't think that was an apology to me, because if it was, he would've either called me without the public and said 'Michel'le, I am so sorry for what I did to you 20-something years ago,' that's an apology", she said.[26]

Discography

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]
Year Album Peak chart positions Certifications
US
[3] 		US R&B
[3] 		AUS
[27] 		NZ
[28]
1989 Michel'le
  • Released: October 23, 1989
  • Label: Ruthless
 35 5 143 49
1998 Hung Jury — 56 — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Singles

[edit]
List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
US
[3] 		US
R&B
[3] 		AUS
[30][27] 		NZ
[28] 		UK
[31]
"No More Lies" 1989 7 2 153 27 78 Michel'le
"Nicety" 1990 29 5 — — —
"Keep Watchin" — 65 — — —
"Something in My Heart" 31 2 — — —
"If?" 1991 — 22 — — —
"Hang Tyme" 1998 — 66 — — — Hung Jury
"Can I Get a Witness?" — 70 — — —
"Freedom to Love" 2011 — — — — — Non-album single
"It Still Hurts" 2014 — — — — —
"Being in Love" 2015 — — — — —
"Moonlight" 2016 — — — — — Surviving Compton – OST
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le (Trailer). Lifetime. September 29, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2023 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ DJ Menace (December 5, 2018). "Happy Birthday Michel'le". Majic945.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Michel'le Chart History". Billboard.
  4. ^ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – August 15, 2015". RIAA. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  5. ^ djvlad (July 1, 2019). "Mob James Details Suge Knight Forcing Jerry Heller to Sign Over Dr. Dre & Michel'le (Part 7)". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  6. ^ "Chicago rap artists take a stand to combat gun violence with an interactive music video". Chicago Now. October 16, 2015.
  7. ^ "Collins Grabs Eight Grammy Nominations". Variety. January 14, 1991.
  8. ^ a b c Mojica, Nicholas (October 15, 2016). "'Surviving Compton' Exposes Michel'le's Abuse By Dr. Dre And Relationship With Suge Knight; 16 Things We Learned From Lifetime Biopic". International Business Times.
  9. ^ Hawkins, Kayla (October 15, 2016). "What Is Michel'le Doing Now? 'Surviving Compton' Was Only The Beginning". Bustle.
  10. ^ "Michel'le Freedom to Love (Music Video Trailer)". YouTube. August 1, 2010. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  11. ^ "Q&A: Michel'le—An R&B Diva". Soul Train. July 16, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
  12. ^ Penrice, Ronda Racha (October 15, 2016). "Michel'le's Surviving Compton Doesn't Forget About Dre". The Root. Retrieved October 29, 2016.
  13. ^ Harris-Perry, Melissa (October 13, 2016). "Michel'le Opens Up About Her Abusive Relationships With Dr. Dre and Suge Knight". Elle. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
  14. ^ "Michel'le, Rhyon Nicole Brown talk Lifetime movie 'Surviving Compton'". Fox2 Now. October 12, 2016. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
  15. ^ "BET: See who will star in 'Love Jones' the Musical". BET. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  16. ^ "Love Jones: The Musical". www.lovejonesthemusical.com.
  17. ^ a b c Porter, Lauren (October 14, 2016). "Before 'Surviving Compton:' 6 Things To About Michel'le, Dr. Dre And Suge Knight's Relationship". Essence.
  18. ^ Ro, Ronin (2007). Dr. Dre: The Biography. New York City, United States: Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 978-1-56025-921-3.
  19. ^ Del F. Cowie (November 2, 2019). "Dr. Dre". Exclaim!. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  20. ^ Westhoff, Ben (September 13, 2016). Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap. Hachette Books. ISBN 978-0-316-34486-9.
  21. ^ "Dr. Dre's Ex Michel'le Speaks on Being the 'Quiet Girlfriend Who Got Beat Up'". Billboard. August 18, 2015.
  22. ^ "Michel'lInterview – The Breakfast Club Power 105.1 – 3/20/15". YouTube.[dead YouTube link]
  23. ^ Sanghani, Radhika (August 14, 2015). "Dr. Dre admits he's assaulted women: 'I made some horrible mistakes'". The Telegraph.
  24. ^ Toby, Makesha Madden (October 11, 2016). "Michel'le Gets Real About Her Dysfunctional Relationships with Dr. Dre and Suge Knight". Essence. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  25. ^ "Michel'le Demands Child Support From Suge Knight". Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  26. ^ Williams, Brennan (October 7, 2016). "Michel'le Opens Up About Her Abusive Relationship With Dr. Dre". Huffington Post.
  27. ^ a b "Michel'le ARIA Chart History complete to 2024". ARIA. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Imgur.com. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart.
  28. ^ a b "charts.nz > Michel'le in New Zealand Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  29. ^ "Gold & Platinum Searchable Database – August 15, 2015". RIAA. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  30. ^ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 12 July 2016". Imgur.com. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  31. ^ "Official Charts > Michel'le". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved July 12, 2016. N.B. This page also displays chart peaks for other artists named 'Michelle'.
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