Chrisette Michele “I Am” Def Jam

“Chrisette is a brand-new artist on Def Jam, but she’s not a rapper. L.A. Reid and Jay-Z personally signed her to the label, and she’s an amazing R&B singer and songwriter for people who like Erykah Badu, Jill Scott or Alicia Keyes. She was a featured vocalist on both Nas and Jay-Z’s last albums, but hers just came out last week, and every single song is great from start to finish. When she sat down with Babyface to write the album, he realized that she was such a good songwriter herself that he coaxed her into writing the whole album independently. The result is I Am. It’s not the type of album you want to hurry through; you just want to let it play. She’s on tour right now doing showcases across the country, so I saw her at a sold-out performance at Universal City Walk just a few days ago. She’s got nothing on the radio yet, but word of mouth on this girl is huge. Everyone who hears the album goes and tells someone else, who in turn comes back to the store to buy it. She’s my favorite new artist to emerge in years.” // VIOLET BROWN

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