K. Michelle and Donell Jones

Maybe it takes some of the romance out of being an artist, but wouldn’t it be more refreshing to have some musicians that could have done anything they wanted in their life? The stories of musicians who feel that they’re no good at anything else have become a cliché. We as an audience known that if they weren’t playing music then they wouldn’t be dead or in jail anyway, they’d probably be in an office of some kind. It was always hyperbole anyway, in most cases, but doesn’t it mean more to have artists that actively chose to pursue the arts?

K. Michelle is a perfect example of this. Not only did she learn the guitar and piano as a kid, not only did she have singing lessons from the man who trained Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears as well, but she earned a scholarship to Florida A&M University before she was 18. She began her degree majoring in Biology and left with a degree in Psychology, so in Michelle’s case, music’s gain is very much academia’s loss. So it’s just as well that she’s pretty amazing at what she does.

By 2009 she’d signed with Jive Records; however her first four singles there didn’t catch the public’s eye in the way many people hoped they would. They were good enough to attract the attention of Usher, Akon and Missy Elliot, who were slated to guest on her debut album on the label, but she was brought out of her contract before the record could be finished. However, her career’s saving grace came from a highly unlikely source.

During her time on Jive Records, she’d made enough of a name for herself to join the cast of VH1’s reality TV series Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. Her razor sharp wit, sense of humour and relentless work ethic made her the shows most beloved personality, earning her a deal with Atlantic Records, as well as her own spin off show in the form of K. Michelle: My Life.

Come 2013, her debut album “Rebellious Soul” was released, debuting at number 2 on the Billboard album charts and selling 72’000 copies in its first week. K. Michelle had arrived with authority, and with the release of her 2014 album “AWBAH” (an abbreviation of “Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?”) there isn’t a force around that can stop her. This is an artist who’s going to do great things in her time, and we should all stick around to watch it happen. Highly recommended.

Sometimes the best music comes from those with the biggest divide in them. Those that constantly have a devil and an angel on their shoulder and can’t quite decide which one they want to go with. Donell Jones’ upbringing typifies this since he was born the son of a gospel singer, but early in his adolescence was tempted by the seedy goings-on of the south side of his native Chicago. Fortunately for both him and us, Jones made the right decision to immerse himself in music rather than the gangs he grew up alongside, and made his official debut as a singer-songwriter in 1993.

Shortly afterwards he struck up a friendship with a DJ named Edward “Eddie F” Ferrell, and the two formed a creative partnership with LaFace Records. After “Think Of You”, a song that Jones wrote, was taken and made a hit by some no-hoper called Usher, the higher-ups at LaFace gave Jones the all-clear to record his debut solo album. The album was released in 1996 and “My Heart” was a respectable hit for someone on their debut effort, powered by a hit cover of Stevie Wonder’s 1976 single “Knocks Me Off My Feet” as its lead single.

However, the stars would later align for him with his second record. “Where I Wanna Be” was a bona-fide smash, going platinum within the year and yielding smash hit singles on both sides of the Atlantic. This album made him free to do whatever he wanted to do with his follow up records, and since then his soul inflected R&B has bought him more critical notices than many others with better chart records, but the numbers were never what made Jones special. His sheer songwriting skill and golden voice did that fine, and neither of them have diminished whatsoever during his 20 plus years in show business. Highly recommended.