Southern Plug Magazine: Leaders of the New School 2017 Volume 2 Issue 1 A | Page 97

K. Michelle has been one of the frankest contemporary R&B artists of the late
2000s and 2010s. The singer and songwriter, a native of Memphis born Kimberly
Michelle Pate, signed to Jive in 2008, releasing a pair of singles ("Self Made,"
"Fakin' It") that brushed the charts soon after. During 2010, "Fallin'" and "I Just
Can't Do This" performed better on the R&B chart, and she also featured on
tracks by R. Kelly, Juicy J, and Ruben Studdard. By 2012, she had signed to
appear on the VH1 reality show Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, and she inked a
contract with Atlantic soon after. Her debut album, Rebellious Soul, was released
in August 2013 and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Two singles
peaked outside the Top 20 of the R&B chart, but the singer later picked up a Soul
Train award for Best New Artist. After a headlining tour, a stint opening for Robin
Thicke, and a Rebellious Soul musical, directed by Idris Elba and aired on VH1, K.
Michelle starred in another VH1 series, K. Michelle: My Life. Its first episode
premiered a few weeks prior to the release of Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?, her
second Top Ten album of blunt yet imaginative storytelling. In March 2016, while
K. Michelle: My Life was in its second season, she released her third album, More
Issues Than Vogue. Another Top Ten hit, and third consecutive R&B/Hip-Hop
topper, its biggest hit, "Not a Little Bit," was written with Kelly Price. As My Life
wrapped up in early 2017, K. Michelle started releasing pre-album singles that
led to the December release of the characteristically forthright Kimberly: People
I Used to Know.