''Michel'le'' is the debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American singer

Michel'le Michel'le Denise Toussant ( ; born December 5, 1967), also spelled Toussaint, is an American R&B singer known for her songs from 1989 to the early 1990s. Her highest charting song is the top ten US Hot 100 hit "No More Lies". Between 2013 and ...

. It was released on October 23, 1989, on

Ruthless Records Ruthless Records was an American independent record label founded by Eric "Eazy-E" Wright and Jerry Heller in Compton, California on March 3, 1987. All of the Ruthless trademarks have been owned by Comptown Records, Inc. since 1987. Several ...

Atco Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the com ...

and

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. The album was co produced by

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

N.W.A N.W.A (an abbreviation for Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American hip-hop group formed in Compton, California in 1987. Among the earliest and most significant figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, the group is widely considered one of the great ...

and André “LA Dre” Bolton. The album was certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

five weeks after its release.

Commercial performance

Following its release, the record reached number 35 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number five on the

Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart. Five singles were released, " No More Lies", "Nicety", "If?", "Something in My Heart" and "Keep Watchin'". The most successful of these was "No More Lies", which peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number two on the ''Billboard''

Hot R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

chart.

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

rapper

Tim Dog Timothy J. Blair (January 3, 1967 – February 14, 2013),Margaret Eby"Rapper Tim Dog slapped with arrest warrant on suspicion of faking own death,"''New York Daily News'', May 22, 2013. better known by his stage name Tim Dog, was an American rap ...

sampled the song "No More Lies" in his track "

Fuck Compton "Fuck Compton" (censored as "Forget Compton" or "F**k Compton") is a diss track written and performed by the American rapper Tim Dog, released in 1991 through Ruffhouse Records as the lead single from the rapper's debut studio album '' Penicilli ...

", a diss song towards West Coast hip hop, from his 1991 album ''

Penicillin on Wax ''Penicillin on Wax'' is the debut studio album by American New York-based rapper Tim Dog. It was released on November 12, 1991, via Ruffhouse Records. The album was produced by Tim Dog, Ced-Gee, TR Love and Moe Love from Ultramagnetic MC's, Bo ...

.'' In 2004, P-Dub sampled "Something in My Heart" in his song "4 Walls the After Effect". Song "If?" was sampled in

Kehlani Kehlani Ashley Parrish ( ; born April 24, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter and dancer. She is originally from Oakland, California, and achieved initial fame as a member of the teen pop group PopLyfe in 2011. Kehlani's debut mixtape, '' ...

's 2014 song "As I Am".

Critical reception

The Record The Record may refer to: Music * The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...

'' noted that "the young singer makes her mark nthe slow-paced songs, which allow Michel'le to stretch, emote, and show the full range of her voice, at times reminiscent of Anita Baker's."

Track listing

Notes *"Silly Love Song" is a cover of "Silly Love Song" by Enchantment (1977) Samples *"No More Lies" sampled "

Funky Drummer "Funky Drummer" is a song by James Brown recorded in 1969 and released as a single in 1970. Its drum break, Musical improvisation, improvised by Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most frequently sampling (music), sampled music recordings. Recor ...

" by James Brown (1970) *"Nicety" sampled " Funky President (People It's Bad)" by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

(1974) and "Action" by Orange Krush (1982) *"Keep Watchin'" sampled "Think (About It)" by

Lyn Collins Gloria Lavern Collins (June 12, 1948 – March 13, 2005), better known as Lyn Collins, was an American soul singer best known for working with James Brown in the 1970s and for the influential 1972 funk single, "Think (About It)". A favorite ...

(1972) *"100% Woman" sampled "Blow Your Head" by

Fred Wesley Fred Wesley (born July 4, 1943) is an American trombonist who worked with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s, and Parliament-Funkadelic in the second half of the 1970s. Biography Wesley was born the son of a high school teacher and big band le ...

the J.B.'s The J.B.'s (sometimes punctuated The JB's or The J.B.s) was James Brown's band from 1970 through the early 1980s. On records, the band was sometimes billed under alternate names such as Fred Wesley and the JBs, The James Brown Soul Train, Mace ...

(1974)

Personnel

* Michel'le Toussaint - lead vocals, backing vocals (tracks 1, 8) *LaShana Dendy (X's3 / Times 3) - backing vocals (tracks 4, 5) *Michael Holmes - backing vocals (tracks 3, 11) *Denise West - backing vocals (track 7) *Karen Foster - backing vocals (track 7) *Vivien Jackson - backing vocals (track 7) *Andre "L.A. Dre" Bolton - keyboards, co-producer * Andre Young - keyboards (track 1), producer, mixing *Donald Tavie - keyboards (track 7) *Bruce "Mal" Malament - piano (tracks 3, 7, 11) *Stan Jones - bass & guitar (track 7) *Dennis Belfield - bass (tracks 3, 11) *Mike Sims - guitar, recording *Ron Krasinski - drums (tracks 3, 11) *Brian Kilgore - percussion *Michael Acosta - saxophone *William Zimmerman - saxophone *

Brian Gardner Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance-p ...

- mastering * Antoine Carraby - mixing *Donovan "The Dirtbiker" Sound - recording * Eric Wright - executive producer *Elizabeth Barrett - design *David Roth - photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1989 debut albums Michel'le albums Ruthless Records albums Albums produced by Dr. Dre Atco Records albums Atlantic Records albums