K. Michelle has had a tense week, thanks to her infamous run-in with “The Breakfast Club” host Angela Yee, whom Michelle berated for bashing her during a radio show. Although most fans assume that Michelle has a thick skin and can handle any drama, a new teary-filled confession from the singer revealed that she may not be as tough and hard as people think.
According to media reports, Michelle recently sat down for a radio interview and talked about how she wants the country-inspired song “If It Ain’t Love” to be a single off of her new album, More Issues Than Vogue. However, she shared that her label, Atlantic, was honest with her and told her that radio won’t support the song because it’s being sung by a Black artist.
Michelle then broke down in tears as she discussed how difficult it is to deal with the racism in the music industry and how she feels she’s being pigeonholed into R&B, which she explains isn’t even being supported by labels or radio stations.
“I don’t wanna sing what I don’t wanna sing. I just wanna be me,” K. Michelle explained. “I never thought I would live in a time of tremendous racism .. .and I just don’t like what I see. Not just music, race is very difficult and I don’t like how we do each other. I don’t like the barriers that are placed on us. And if you care anything about music or you care anything about the platform you’ve been given, you’re gonna feel a certain kind of way.”
Although Michelle bemoaned the way that R&B music is mistreated by radio and awards shows, she explained that she no longer wants to make R&B music after this album.
“I’m not doing anything but that (country music) after this, because that’s what I grew up on,” she stated.
Later, Michelle made a shocking confession when she revealed that the stress of her career has left her barely any time for her to sleep in the past two weeks.
“It’s just no time. There’s never enough time. Everything is just on you. You have so many people depending on you and you can’t even breathe. No one asks if you’re OK. Everybody wants money, everybody wants something. Nobody is just there to be there. It’s always something every day. People not doing their jobs. You gotta take the slack for them not doing their jobs. Because then it’s like, K. Michelle didn’t do it … When can you possibly sleep when you can’t be just an artist? I don’t have that liberty … I do everything,” Michelle said.
She then explained that her doctor has placed her on pills to help her sleep, but she says they’re affecting her mood.
“I’m always super honest. I don’t sleep, and he has to give me medicine to sleep, but then they have to give me medicine to stay up. He’s like ‘this album has to be over, we have to get a real schedule.’ Because then, if I can’t sleep, they give you sleeping pills. It’s a balance, but then they give you stuff for energy. It’s just.. I have to do better,” Michelle said.
Well, this definitely paints a sobering picture of what it’s like to be a Black female artist in this day and age and we hope that K. Michelle makes it a point to take care of herself first.
