Posted by | Cyrena Rose
Better: “I didn’t think that I’d be able to feel so empowered and so full of self-love,…I needed to make that affirmation aloud to tell myself that I’m better than I’ve ever been.”
In a story by Stereo Williams with images lensed by DeWayne Rogers, Grammy winning singer Chrisette Michele covers ROLLING OUT Mag!
Williams writes: the release of her new album, Better, comes three years after her previous LP, 2010’s Let Freedom Reign. That lengthy hiatus was just a case of her needing to take care of herself for a little while.
I can only speak for myself, but I am elated she is back! Better will finally see a release on June 11th.
Chrisette simply glows in her self-styled pics and the interview (Change Is Good; Growth Is Better) is in-depth and thought-provoking, check out the visuals and excerpts below:
“I feel like music isn’t celebrated the way it used to be,” she says. “Dance isn’t celebrated the way that it used to be. Freedom of speech isn’t celebrated the way it used to be. No one is reading into anything in an artful way or experiencing anything form a nonjudgmental perspective and it’s exhausting to be an artist where everything you do is judged as opposed to felt. No one is feeling anymore. People are just trying to make a point out of every single detail. No one is experiencing or feeling art anymore and it’s exhausting. It’s why artists travel to different countries to get their point across. Here in the States, I think we have a hard time feeling music the way we used to.”
“I struggle to balance walking around as ‘Chrisette Michelle,’ ” she admits. “When I’m walking around — just hanging out, I don’t even remember that somebody might know me. Putting on my game face or my ‘Chrisette Michele’ face as soon as somebody notices me is a challenge. It’s totally not in my mind to be famous. I’m not really great at that. I’m not good at being famous; I don’t think it’s my forte. Some people are pros at it.”
“Without faith, what are you working toward? What [do you] believe in? What do you think is going to happen tomorrow that hasn’t happened yet? What are you excited about?” she asks. “For me, faith is about knowing that there’s something greater on the horizon. It gives me a reason to fight every day, to believe every day and to be excited every day. Of course I’m excited about right now and this particular moment, but faith and excitement for tomorrow are what drive me.”
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