Hip Hope first lady Michelle isn’t going ‘out tonight’…but she’s not sitting pretty either. Three singles down the line, Michelle is making that big arrival with the latest banger on the scene, her new jam, Out Tonight.

On the eve of releasing the video, the harsh emcee sat down with us to talk about the jam, her recently shaved dreads and what else she’s been up to. Dig in!

What have you been up to this year?
Well, that’s a broad one. I’ve been living, for one…anyway, this year just started on a note where I felt I need to go deeper spiritually, and so spiritual growth was the first thing for me. I did my school of prayer and school of word, just to get to another level spiritually, not that I’m becoming a pastor or anything. 

Musically, I’ve been rather quite, just playing around, experimenting with different sounds, different people here and there. So, finally, here comes the single. 

Well, before we get to the single, other things have been happening in your life. Like shaving your dreads – was that part of your ‘getting deeper’?
No, not at all. I just felt that I wanted a change, it’s nothing deep, no writing on the wall, no trumpets – though I wish there were, then I’d have a really good story. I think there’s a point in your life where you just want to do new things, and I’d say, my dreads had done their time. 

Interesting. Tell us a bit more about these experiments you talked about earlier…
Well, how do I describe them? Just not your typical hip-hop sound. Like there’s a song we’re doing with Holy Dave – something very funny, inclined towards pop, but still brings out the message. There’s more to the arrangement in hip-hop, and I believe that when I’m bringing my message, I should be able to do it in a way unique to myself.

Oh, so what you’re saying is that we should get ready to hear a bit more that just the usual hip-hop from Michelle in the coming days?
Precisely. There’ll still be me rapping and everything, but for instance, I’ve done a song with Kevo Yout – that’s one of those experiments. It should be coming out pretty soon actually, probably in August. It’s called Heads Up – like that is a raga track, and Kevo is at home doing his stuff; I don’t do raga, but I get to rap on it. So yeah, that’s different.

OK, let’s talk about Out Tonight, the single.
This is a very personal song – it’s very real and very true and I think its something I can sum up as my testimony. I wrote this song two years ago, just after I’d gotten saved. The biggest thing I could see at that point in my life was that I was not going out!

How did it come about?
One thing that people don’t know is that the time just before I got saved, I had given up on music and that’s how I knew there was something wrong. I’d stopped writing, I’d just become numb to the whole thing. The fact that I actually sat down and wrote this song was a testimony – I’d thought I was never going to rap again, or even do music at all. God gave me this song, and I was able to sum my whole testimony in it.

So why did it take so long for you to release it?
I guess it’s just because it wasn’t time for it. Now, it is!

Who’s on the song with you?
The song features Zaidi Ya Mziki’s Kera. Funnily, it wasn’t even planned that he would be on it! We were in the studio and he heard the song, and tried it out and I liked it. 

We hear there are two versions of the jam?
Yes. There’s the Blackman version and the Gittx remix. The video is done to the latter, because it’s very very current. Blackman’s will be great for an album version, but the Gittx one is what I need right now for the impact that I want the song to have.

 
Tell us about the video?
We had an awesome night shoot with Hip Hope and a few of my pals from church. It was a nice experience, opened my eyes to what goes into video production, and what it takes to get one done. It psyched me up for more…anyway, the video was shot by Edu Gee, and he’s basically handling its production. 

What’ll shock us about the video?
Hm. I think the thing that’ll shock you the most about the video is seeing me, coz finally, I have a video! It’s about time! Also, I’m semi-girly on the video! No pinks or anything like that, but a lot of color, a glimpse of a different side of me. But the video is very simple…Kera’s not on it by the way, he was in the States during the shoot, so we had to do with his vocals. But Hip Hope guys filled in excellently, just doing their stuff. It’s pretty obvious it’s not them singing, so it’s OK. 

It’s taken awhile for you to do something of this magnitude, and Out Tonight sounds like Michelle is finally introducing herself – either make it or not. You feel like that?
I don’t think there’s a ‘not’ option. It’s just making it. I don’t think I was ready to do this song with the kind of potential it has immediately I got saved. I needed to grow first; I needed to have a base from where I’m coming. 

What does the future hold for Michelle?
There’s a lot coming up. Like I told you, there’ stuff I’ve done with Kevo Yout, stuff I’ve done with Monique…I’ll be doing a lot of collabos with people, if you think you’re good enough…right now, I’m very open. I mean, I did want to do my album by a certain time, but those plans are on hold temporarily.

One final question – what’s your take on Blackman leaving Kijiji, and your place in Hip Hope with regard to the transition going on?
First of all, Hip Hope is part of my life and as long as the Lord allows, I’m part of Hip Hope. Moreover, I’m still at Kijiji as an artist. That said, let me add that even if I have to do this work on my own, I still will. There’s what Michelle will have to do, and she will do it, you know? It’s great when we do it as a team – we’re able to achieve so much more together. You see, the thing is, we’re not just Hip Hope, we’re friends. Actually, we’re just from spending a whole weekend at Blackman’s. I guess I’d say the most important thing for Hip Hope right now is getting on the same page. 

Alright. I promise this is the really final one – other than music, is there anything else you’re up to that you want to share?
Most of my life is music. But currently I’m also doing a radio show with DJ Moz on Homeboyz Radio. It’s called Crossover (and comes every Thursday night at 10 pm) – I love doing the show, I’ve wanted to be on radio for a long time. I’ve been at it for about a month, and it’s been an amazing experience. And we rock man, Abdul, Moz and I, we rock! 

Thanks Michelle, for taking time to talk with us.
Cheers.

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