Mitchelle'l Sium is an American singer and songwriter from

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas. He was discovered on Myspace.com and brought to

Grand Hustle Records Grand Hustle Records (formerly Grand Hustle Entertainment), also known as Hustle Gang Music, is an Atlanta, Georgia-based hip hop record label, founded in 2003, by American rapper T.I. and his manager Jason Geter. Up until December 2012, the lab ...

by general manager, Hannah Kang. In 2008, Sium signed a record deal with Atlanta-based record label Grand Hustle Records, founded by American rapper T.I. Sium has collaborated with some of the most prominent artists in the hip hop industry, such as TI,

Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...

Ty Dolla $ign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...

, BJ The Chicago Kid, Charlie Wilson,

Lil Duval Roland Powell (born June 12, 1977), better known by his stage name Lil Duval, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. In 2005, he was a finalist on BET's comedy competition series ''Coming to the Stage''. Powell is a series regular to the MT ...

B.o.B Bobby Ray Simmons Jr. (born November 15, 1988), known professionally as B.o.B, is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Decatur, Georgia, Simmons was signed to Jim Jonsin's Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint in 2006. Two years late ...

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record executive. In 1996, Gotti released his debut album ''Youngsta's On a Come Up'' under the alias Lil Yo. He went on to re ...

8Ball & MJG 8Ball & MJG is an American hip hop duo from Memphis, Tennessee. They met at Ridgeway Middle School (Memphis, Tennessee) in 1984. In 1993, the duo released their debut album ''Comin' Out Hard''. They went on to release ''On the Outside Looking In ...

and

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

, among others.

Early life

Mitchelle'l Sium was born in

, Texas, to a father from Eritrea, a nation on the Eastern coast of Africa, and a mother of Creole descent.

Musical career

Career beginnings

In late 2007, Sium capitalized upon the promotional capacity of the internet and used Myspace as a platform to expand the reach of his music. He captured the attention of Hannah Kang, general manager for Atlanta-based record label

and was introduced to American rapper and Grand Hustle label-boss, T.I. In 2008, Sium had signed a recording contract with Grand Hustle Records. In 2008, Sium was featured on a song titled “Collect Call”, which was included as a

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

on T.I.’s highly acclaimed sixth album, ''

Paper Trail An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon.” Auditing ...

''. He teamed up with T.I. again in 2010, alongside Scarface, on the song "How Life Changed", from the '' No Mercy'' album. On September 23, 2011, he released a song titled "Only a Few". In 2011, he appeared on

’s long-awaited '' Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition'' album, on a song called "Higher Learning." His debut single "Irene" features Maybach Music's Wale, production by Grand Hustle record producer C-Gutta and co-written by actor

Omar Epps Omar Hashim Epps (born July 20, 1973) is an American actor, rapper, and producer. He has been awarded nine NAACP Image Awards, two Teen Choice Awards, one MTV Movie Award, one Black Reel Award, and one Screen Actors Guild Award. Epps's film r ...

Artistry

Voice and songwriting

The in-house disc jockey of Grand Hustle, DJ MLK, has described Sium as "sound nglike a young Maxwell." In 2012, American radio show host and internet celebrity

B. Scott Brandon Scott Sessoms, best known as B. Scott (born March 21, 1981 in Franklin, Virginia) is an American television personality, radio show host and internet celebrity who is known for their YouTube videoblogs and their website, LoveBScott.com.Wo ...

, wrote in a review that he "sounds a bit like Maxwell meets

Van Hunt Van Hunt (born March 8, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. He released his debut album, ''Van Hunt'', in 2004, and a follow-up, ''On the Jungle Floor'', in 2006, both on Capitol Records. He won the ...

". Also in 2012, after the release of a song titled "Irene", from Sium's mixtape of the same name, grownfolksmusic.com wrote "Mitchelle’l already has a smooth, soulful vibe going that is reminiscent of artists like Maxwell and

Robin Thicke Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single " Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, h ...

and works just fine without a guest rapper. Hopefully there are more sensual, smoothed-out tracks like this one coming down the line from Mitchelle’l."

Influences

Mitchelle’l grew up listening to and was deeply inspired by the kings of

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

, including

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

and

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

. He later gravitated towards more

contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music. The genre features a distinctive record production style, drum machine-backed rhythm ...

offerings from

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwi ...

Jodeci Jodeci ( ) is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B quartet consisting of members DeVanté Swing, Dalvin DeGrate, Mr. Dalvin, K-Ci (singer), K-Ci, and K-Ci and JoJo, JoJo. Formed in 1989 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jodeci's members began their mu ...

and

D’Angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

. As he began to create music, he incorporated the elements that had inspired him from a musical sense along with the things he experienced in the world around him.

Discography

Mixtapes

Singles as featured artist

Guest appearances

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchelle'l Date of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century African-American male singers African-American male singer-songwriters American hip hop singers American people of Creole descent American people of Eritrean descent American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American soul singers Grand Hustle Records artists Musicians from Houston Singer-songwriters from Texas Year of birth missing (living people)