Man, the game has been missing Chrisette Michele! After dropping her last album, Let Freedom Reign, in 2010, the singer disappeared out of the music scene for a while. But just a few months ago, she returned with a new look and an even stronger sound, dropping new music for her album Better, being released on June 11. We sat with the gorgeous singer to talk about everything from her hair, to being a bad girlfriend in the past, an addiction to food, why she has love for Beyoncé’s vocal abilities, who she would love to work with and her new music. We’re oh so glad that she’s back. How about you?

Source: WENN

I will never forget the first time I heard soul singer Chrisette Michele’s voice. I was 16 years old and Nas had just released “Can’t Forget About You” as the second single off of his Hip Hop Is Dead album. I listened to the track over and over as I sat by an oversized window in my living room while I worked on my homework. Nas did an amazing job on the song, but what really drew me to it, was the unique voice of the woman singing on the hook. I eventually came to know the songtress as R&B singer Chrisette Michele. I combed the Internet, looking for details on her. I had to learn more about her! But unfortunately at the time, my Google searches didn’t uncover much. Six years later, Chrisette’s newly released web documentary Journey To Better, which can be found on her website, offers a little insight as to why there wasn’t too much information available about her when she was first “thrown” into the music industry. The New York native reveals that she intentionally flew beneath the radar because she wasn’t sure if she could “get the job right.”

The documentary begins in black and white, showing Chrisette rolling her bicycle down a sidewalk.

“I’ve been afraid. I didn’t always know if I’d be a singer. It takes time to get a job right. When you come into most jobs, you get years to work on getting promotions, raises, to become a CEO, to become great. In the music industry you don’t get that time. You kind of just get thrown out there into this world of stages and red carpets and magazines. And if you aren’t great right away, you’re kind of fired. You don’t really get a chance to come back and do it again the next day,” she begins at the start of the video.

She went on to say that having known how unforgiving the entertainment industry can be, she intentionally stayed beneath the radar.

“I knew that when I first started this, so I did tried really hard to stay just underneath the limelight, people call it underrated. I call it careful. So I kind of just snuck my way through this learning process and I took notes. I carried a composition notebook and literally took notes from everybody from Babyface to Diddy, Kevin Liles to whoever I got to be around, Jay-Z. I would hang out with publicists. People would wonder why I was hanging out the guy who does the mail or the person who does the marketing or the person who is the engineer. Why am I hanging out with the sound guy? Why am I hanging out with the lighting guy? I’m hanging out with these people because I want to learn everything there is to know about the music industry before I put myself out there.”

Chrisette finishes up by saying that she believes that her studying and hard work has paid off because she’s no longer afraid to show herself and is confident enough to call herself an artist.

Skip to the next page to watch Part 1 of her doucmentary, Journey to Better. What do you think of her decision to shy away from the limelight? 

Alberto Reyes/WENN

It’s always a good thing when the possibility of good music is on the way.

Soul singer Chrisette Michele took the end of 2012 to give us a slight taste of what she’d be offering on her full length album when she released her mixtape, Audrey Hepburn: An Audiovisual Presentation. It gave a sort of different sound but as Chrisette stated, it showed insight to where she was in her artistic process.

Fast forward to February when Chrisette dropped “A Couple of Forever,” the song that is to be her first single from her album Better which should be out in April. ‘Forevers’ is the song that showcases the kind of singing her core fans have grown to know and love. While it is a very slow and mellow tune for a first single, it also shows Chrisette’s range. It also features a “Stairway to Heaven” sample.

In the video, released earlier this week, Chrisette continues to show off her new “Rich Hipster” look which includes a blond gumby haircut and a plethora of tattoos. In fact, she’s even showing herself being tatted again in the video (we’re not sure if she’s actually being inked again but it wouldn’t surprise us).

Her love interest in “A Couple of Forevers” is her guitarist Justin Lyons (also known as “Guitar Slayer”) and was directed by celebrity photographer Derek Blanks.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Source: WENN

Last night, Grammy Award-winning singer, Chrisette Michelle was forced to cancel a scheduled show in Times Square, New York, as she had fallen ill and had to be hospitalized. While details surrounding the “A Couple of Forevers” singer’s medical emergency are scarce at this time, a source revealed to The Singer’s Room that Chrisette is suffering from a ruptured appendix.

Chrisette is currently in the process of gearing up for the April 30th release of her fourth studio album, Better. After her hospitalization, she posted a special message to fans via her Instagram page, expressing how upset she was that she had to cancel the show.

“I hate that I can’t perform tonight… But I have no choice. I love you NYC. I swear. Xo,” she wrote, along with posting this photo.

Source: Instagram

The singer was also scheduled to make an appearance at a natural hair event with blogger Curly Nikki, which she seemed to really be looking forward to.

“I told the doctor I’m NOT missing that! Even if I’m in a wheelchair!” she tweeted about the event.

Chrisette is scheduled to open up for Keyshia Cole’s Woman to Woman Tour beginning March 28th in Westbury, New York. She is definitely a busy woman, but what matters most is that she is in good health.

We hope she makes a speedy recovery.

Leave your get well wishes for Chrisette below!

Jazmine Denise is a news writer for Madame Noire. Follow her on Twitter @jazminedenise.

WENN

If this year has taught us anything, it’s this my friends: Box braids/Poetic Justice braids/ Patra braids are back! Woohoo! For those of us out in these streets looking to whip some hair that’s not itchy and will help us protect our strands from harsh weather (if you don’t get them too tight, they should protect your hair in general), the return of box braids has been welcomed with open arms. Especially by the African women who sit on 125th street in Harlem looking to put some braids on a fro they assume you want to hide. And while we love box braids here at MN, so do the celebs. From the ones who made the look hot years and years ago to the ones trying to keep it hot in the present, they’re everywhere. But who is rocking them right and who isn’t? Let’s take a look!

From Hello Beautiful

Chrisette Michele took a much-needed break from the music industry. What’s she been up to? Glad you asked! The Grammy award-winning songstress traveled the roads of Amsterdam, Brussels, London and Paris. Chrisette found herself retracing the footsteps of the fashion and film icon, Audrey Hepburn. Her experiences gave birth to her upcoming project, “Audrey Hepburn : An Audiovisual Presentation” –an eclectic piece for her fans which will be ready for free release on her birthday December 8th.

Read more at HelloBeautiful.com.

VissaStudios.com

Somewhere in between a Velvet Remi full sew-in with red highlights and a head full of jet black Bohemian Kinky Curl, for ten minutes I contemplated taking it all off, leaving my hair very short.  Not just my weave (everyone knows that my mantra is, “All I need in this world of sin, is me and my sew-in”) but my natural auburn shoulder length hair as well. And by short I didn’t mean Halle Berry or Nia Long-short. I was talking little to no hair. I mean, if Amber Rose could do it, why couldn’t I? I’ll tell you why: Because I am a member of the Tyra Banks Five Head Club and had absolutely zero faith that I could pull off that look with the confidence that my cute face would make up for my “high hairline.” I was also bothered by the fact that my man might feel some type of way if he reached to touch my head and felt something that was similar to his own.

Every woman can admit to coming to a point of defeat after weighing her options of weave vs. wash vs. curl vs. braids vs. locs before wondering, “What if I just shaved it all off?”  But few of us actually make the final cut. I‘ve always admired women like Chrisette Michele, Erykah Badu and even Willow Smith whose beautiful faces emerged from behind long locks with confident cool. Even Cassie’s partially shaven do was edgy, but before I could commit to it I wondered, “What about when I need to pull my hair up into a ponytail?” Shaving my head will probably remain a figment of my imagined edginess because I can admit that I attach much of my femininity and style to my crowning glory.  As beautiful as I feel my face is, I attribute half of that beauty to a flattering hairstyle.

Fortunately, I was able to live vicariously through a friend. We’ll call her Katrina.  On March 12, she posted a Facebook pic of herself wearing a short cropped fade which simply read, “My new look.”  She had publicly debated for weeks between box braids or a simple wash and curl. On one occasion she gave all her Facebook friends an inside look into her husband’s thoughts on beauty, writing:

“My husband asked me last night why don’t I cut my hair short. I told him bc I wear alot of sweats, t’s, & sneakers, & I don’t want him to feel like I’m not being lady like. He said, ‘I wouldn’t care, as long as we don’t have the same/similiar cut.’— He made my heart smile. l’ve been contemplating either cutting my hair short or starting dreads for awhile. Without knowing it he gave me a little more confidence & courage to go for it.”

Sometimes we look at celebrities and life just doesn’t seem fair. They’re rich, they’re adored and to add insult to injury they’re unnaturally good looking, right? Well…not really. If you look closely, through the makeup, Photoshop, and airbrushing, you’ll notice most of them look just like you and me. And just like us, their bodies aren’t perfect. But, when you have undeniable talent, people will accept your so-called “flaws” with open arms. Here are some celebrities who have features that are a little…interesting. Many have embraced themselves with with such conviction that those same features that might have caused ridicule as a child, are now their “quirky” bits that help  them stand out from the rest of Hollywood and make more money.

By Carletta Hurt

A woman’s beauty shouldn’t have to sacrifice her health. For Kim Roxie, she knows first-hand just how much weight this statement carries after witnessing a close friend develop lung deficiency due to the poly(iso)butene found in lip gloss. As a result of her friend’s diagnosis, Roxie knew she had to create a line that was healthy for the skin and body.

While mineral makeup is popular because it does not block the pores nor cause the face to feel as if there is a heavy ‘mask’ on the skin, it is generally not made with organic materials. With the current movement to be ‘green’ and environmentally conscious in all aspects of life, Roxie took it upon herself to create what is known as the first eco-chic cosmetics brand. In 2004 at the age of 21, Roxie launched LAMIK Beauty, a line that features products with all natural ingredients packaged in recyclable containers.

“Eco-chic make-up means ecofriendly, glamorous and natural,” explains Roxie, who opened the first LAMIK store in Houston, TX. Because of LAMIK, it is now easier for people to make a healthier choice when it comes to their make-up options because the line’s ingredients consist of water, vitamins E and C, minerals derived from the earth, Aloe Vera and green tea, not harsh and harmful ingredients like talc, lead, fragrance and poly(iso)butene.

Roxie is also a licensed aesthetician, so she is familiar with which ingredients are best for the face. Along with her chemist, a former 25-year Estee Lauder employee whom Roxie met during a chance meeting in New York in 2003, Roxie “experimented with different abstracts to create a footprint [for the make-up]. We ultimately decided to use antioxidants that would stop cancer causing free radicals,” she says. The cosmetics line features an assortment of foundations, eye shadows, lip gloss, facial care and beauty enhancement products, such as custom eyelashes and an eyebrow sculpting bar.

“We do everything in house with labs in two states,” she explains. “We purchase all ingredients for our formulas to make the product. I can press and seal powder into the tubing…knowing and understanding this process was important to me.”

Launching a niche cosmetics line required strict discipline on Roxie’s part. “I could only spend $4 per day on food,” she says, so in order to stay within the boundaries of this budget, Wendy’s was her go-to menu. Within seven months, she was able to invest $10,000 (part of it was a $500 contribution from her mother) to manufacture products and open her store.