We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cherise Michelle a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cherise, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

For sure. So for me, it’s always been hard to make it to the end of a project because of my attention span. I start with these big ideas, and I can see the shape of the finished product, but I’ve rarely been able to have the endurance to stick with it. For this upcoming project, I was actually at a crossroads with this crazy situationship when the ideas for my project started flowing. I thought I had known this person for a while at this point, but he never knew me? (Laughs)

Anyway, I was in my R&B bag and decided it was time to write some songs about the healing journey I knew was in front of me. Heartbreak and coming to terms with the idea that everything you thought about a situation was not mutual is a tough thing to get over.

So this project deals with the many themes of the heart—hence the song titles (Flatline, Heartbeat, Blood on the Floor). I usually start my songs with an experience I had or an event I want to place myself in. Then it’s just me and my song diary. The melodies usually come naturally, and then I literally just let the words flow. Afterward, I go straight to the icon and my good friend Charles Nutrivore, and he works his magic with the arrangements. He always knows just what the music needs. I really think of him as the Billy Strayhorn to my Duke Ellington. It might actually be the other way around though. The next step is finding a band to play the music live, so it feels good for me and makes sense. I was raised on live recordings, so that is usually home for me. The rest of the process is pretty simple—recording the vocals, mixing, and mastering. I will take a second to shout out J.Kelr and Truth Studios for the amazing recording sessions and the incredible musicians who played on the project: Oli (drums), (St)ari (bass), Charles (keys & extra percussion), Gwapmane (Guitar), and Jaay (Sax). Let me briefly say this to the beautiful and talented person that is Molly: thank you so much for guiding me and allowing my voice to soar on these tracks. I can so vividly hear your vocals echoes throughout this whole project, and it brings me joy! And a special thank you to Jian J for your friendship and for blessing me with a verse for Flatline.

I’ve raved enough about the project, but what’s been so interesting is that Charles and I have worked on probably over a hundred revisions for this project. Now that we’ve reached the finish line, I’m already setting my eyes on a new EP idea. I really do everything simply for the thrill and the plot.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Of course! So I’ve been singing and performing for as long as I can remember, but writing music came way later. I didn’t learn how to read music until my undergrad days at Pomona, so all my writing and compositions came from what I did during live performances through improvisation, I’d say. My curiosity for understanding the history of the music I enjoy so much definitely came from my mom and grandpa. She really likes to watch all sorts of documentaries and crime shows, I was interested in finding documentaries on artists I like. I’m an archivist myself, and I love documenting my own life. So, it was only natural that I find out about the artists who inspire me.

I took some artistic leaps with this project that I’m sure my listeners will appreciate, and I’m super proud of that. What sets these new songs apart from my iconic jams like “Honey” or secret crowd favorites like “Icarus” or “1 AM” is first and foremost, the production and quality of the music. I really took my time with each song and tried to consider each aspect of it. It feels like each song is a child or cake I created. My listeners will hopefully appreciate the lyricism, over-arching themes, and the background instrumentation. I devoted a lot of time, energy, and money to this project, and I believe it comes across in the music.

I want my listeners to know that although these songs are hard to listen to sometimes, I am in a much better space now. After some therapy, going one hundred days with no ice cream, and literally quitting my old life to do a new thing, I really feel like I’m at a good place right now. Thank God! This is like the first time there’s no devastating personal tragedy, impossible crushes, romanticized ideas about the future, or any other things that would stop me from maintaining my peace. I look in the mirror, and I like myself now. Hell, I LOVE myself lol. Single as a pringle, pretty as can be, and feeling the most intelligent and blessed I’ve felt in very a long time.

This project helped me go back and take care of the younger Cherise.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Of course. This anecdote might be a bit shocking for people who don’t know me intimately, but I feel like that’s the point of all this haha.

Alright, here we are–back in 2016. I’m a senior, and we are back in Indiana. I’m not sure how much many people know, but I grew up extremely poor. I’m talking about food pantries, Somebody’s Closet Clothing Ministry, utility shut-offs…you name it. I remember it was around October 2016, I came home and our water had been shut off. I didn’t think it would last for long, but we ended up going without water for almost a year. This part is so crazy looking back now, but try to imagine how many times you use water throughout the day and what you use it for.

I won’t go into a ton of details, but we had to take showers with water jugs. Yes, water jugs. I remember us going to the carwash and using the quarters we’d find and my mom would save up, and we’d fill up our jugs of water there. This was one of the roughest, lowest moments of my life. I still managed to make outstanding grades in my AP classes, apply for colleges, and perform in shows. It was truly a trying time, but it taught me a lot about how much I can take. I’ve known from a very young age that I am strong, and I have a lot of fight in me.

However, being resilient is tiring. That’s another conversation for another day though.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

We’re getting so serious here, lol. I’ve only shared these thoughts with my beloved 27 diaries I’ve been keeping since I was nine. Anyway, I’d say the most life-changing lesson I had to learn was the simple fact that I matter too.

I’m the oldest of five siblings, and we were raised by the love of my life–my mom. I think there were internal and external expectations on my mom and us to be great. Life was treating us unfairly, and nothing seemed to be getting better. I internalized a lot of the pressure, and it nearly suffocated me for fifteen years. I have a tattoo to prove it. I spent many years living for this idea of myself I thought I had to become, and I actually did achieve it. I made it out of Indiana; I was the first to graduate; I got the big girl job; I lived my dream life. I really had it all, in my opinion. However, I never got to explore any other parts of me besides the ultra-disciplined, goal-oriented, “can’t let anyone down” version of Cherise.

In March 2022, the pressures I’d put on myself really pushed me to a breaking point. I knew that things had to change internally, otherwise my prayers for God to take my breath away would actually come to pass. It was during my therapy sessions and lots of prayer that I unpacked the roots of these pressures.

I han’t been allowed a chance to ask, “what might cherise want?” because my life had been centered around pouring into other people. I reconstructed my thought processes and slowly began asking that question daily, and it’s been so beautiful to do. These days, I check in with God and myself every morning to set intentions and every evening to reflect on what worked and didn’t work. My healing process, especially as I was working through this project, has been taking care of that younger, baby cherise. Tending to her needs has helped me better understand what I want to get out of these next 25 years of life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cherisemichelle.com
• Instagram: @dailycherise
• Facebook: Cherise Michelle
• Linkedin: Cherise Michelle
• Twitter: @michellecherise
• Youtube: Cherise Michelle
• Soundcloud: Cherise Michelle

Image Credits

Image Credits – Cherise Michelle