R&B and Reality Star K. Michelle Says She’s an Open Book Because She’s ‘Human’
There’s a reason why R&B singer K. Michelle makes good reality TV. She’s brutally honest. Whether discussing her music, dating life, body enhancements, or trials with friends, she tells it straight.
The Memphis native was just as transparent when talking to Yahoo Music about her series, K. Michelle: My Life, that premieres its second season on VH1 Monday.
One of the storylines that she is most passionate about is her music. While she’s known for singing R&B and was named Best New Artist at the 2013 Soul Train Music Awards, she’s on a mission to broaden her listening audience. On her last album, 2014’s Anyone Wanna Buy a Heart?, she featured songs that encompassed rock and country stylings.
While she received vocal training from Bob Westbrook, who groomed the likes of Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, she says it has not been easy to crossover to other genres. She believes her race is a factor.
“I wanted to be able to have records that they allow to be worked on Top 40,” K. Michelle tells Yahoo Music via phone. “They told me I can’t because I’m black and I’m not playing that. Music is music. And they’re not going to have Adele singing soulful R&B music and then tell me that it has to go to Urban AC.”
K. Michelle says her forthcoming album has songs that could definitely fit into other radio formats. “If some of these records on this album were being sung by a white woman, they would be Number 1 on Top 40,” she adamantly explains.
K. Michelle is determined to get her way and is happy to have the support of Atlantic Records, her label. “They are 100 percent about what we are up against,” she adds. “They get what I’m saying. They’re trying to figure out how to get it done.”
Dating is another topic K. Michelle freely discusses. On Season 2 viewers see her explore dating outside of her race, rekindling an old romance, and flirting with Nicki Minaj’s ex-boyfriend.
“I like white men, always have,” K. Michelle offers. “I haven’t really cared about what people think.” And when asked if she had any reservations about being friends with Sarafee Samuels, who dated Nicki Minaj for several years, she makes it clear that she did not.
“I don’t give a s***,” she says. “I don’t give a s***. No one’s going to tell me what I’m supposed to do. I like a couple of her songs. That’s it. We don’t talk to each other on the phone. We don’t play hopscotch with each other. So I can’t be this guy’s friend? Crazy that people really think they can tell you whose friends you’re gonna be.”
Though K. Michelle maintains that she and Safaree are just “friends,” she admits that one of her exes, British actor Idris Elba, wishes she would stop talking about him during interviews.
Idris’ attempts to silence K. Michelle have been unsuccessful. “Of course he’s texted me like, ‘I didn’t need that today.’ And I was like, ‘I didn’t need your f***ing heartbreak either. So I don’t give a f*** what you need. You didn’t give a f*** what I needed and you knew that I wrote songs.’”
Idris shouldn’t take it personally. K. Michelle shares a lot of her own personal business, like cosmetic work she’s had done on her body. In past interviews she revealed that she had a breast job and fat removed from her stomach and injected into her thighs and buttocks. She recently had reduction surgery and shrugs it off when asked if the procedure was painful.
“No,” she says matter-of-factly. “Just take steps, and I’ll talk about it more in some other shows. But I just wanted myself back, basically.”
K. Michelle’s ultimate goal here is to have a genuine connection with her audience. “I want them to know that you grow, you cry,” she explains. “I want them to know that I am human. I’m just like them.”
K. Michelle: My Life airs on VH1 on Mondays at 9:30 p.m.
