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Michelle Williams and Me at Columbia records offices here in New York back in April.
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Y'all know I did an interview with Michelle Williams for Bleu Magazine back in April. It ran in their last issue. For those of you who missed I've posted it here just in time for her new album "Unexpected" in stores tomorrow.
Michelle is one of the nicest and most genuine celebrity folks I've ever met. We both grew up in church, her COGIC and I Pentecostal/Apostolic, having such similar backgrounds, we clicked immediately. The interview was so laid back and playful that it hardly felt less like work and more like catching up with an old friend. Here it is:
You can never know what to expect from Michelle Williams. Even her big break appearing in Destiny's Child's "Say My Name" video back in '99 as the newest child of destiny came as a surprise. Then in the middle of all that pop success she did the unthinkable and dropped an under-the-radar gospel album in 2002 and then did it again in 2004 ("Heart To Yours" and "Do You Know" respectively). Along with her music career Michelle has been building quite an acting resume, appearing on TV shows such as the UPN series "Half & Half" and starring on Broadway in "Aida" and traveling with the cast of "The Color Purple". Now she's hitting us with her first pop/R&B/dance record, aptly titled "Unexpected" this summer.In the interview Michelle, the small town church girl from Rockford, Illinois, and I talk music, ministry, and men... yes, men. How unexpected?
Adam: Michelle, you've always hit us with the unexpected, from your joining with Destiny's Child, to putting out two gospel albums right in the middle of such a successful career in pop music and now with your first solo pop/R&B record entitled "Unexpected". Why do you feel that this is the time to release this record?
Michelle: I did wanna do an R&B album, but what I didn't know was that it was gonna turn into such a dance album. Everything I've done has always been like that though. I like to keep it so nobody knows what Michelle is gonna do. I wanna keep it that way.
How would you respond to your detractors who say you're "backsliding" from your gospel roots? You know how church folk are...
Baby, bye... [laughs] It's like I can't win for losing because I did the gospel stuff at the height of my career with Destiny's Child. If I would have waited they would have been like, "She ain't got no money so now she gon' try to use us and do gospel..." That's why you have to continue to do you and continue to do the things that you know you are to do and I don't think I'm doing anything I'm not supposed to be doing.
'Cuz it seems like it came from your heart to come out and do the gospel albums at such a time...
Absolutely. Everything I do is gonna come from my heart and one day there's a possibility that I will do gospel music when I feel that I'm ready to be committed to that genre.
One thing I admire about you, especially coming from the church world is your openness to everyone. You've worked in many arenas, you played an HIV positive character on the UPN series "Half & Half", you've worked on Broadway and you've done a lot of work with the gays. I know that that's something that's not looked upon so favorably in the church. So how do you reconcile that with your staunch Church Of God In Christ upbringing?
The thing is, I love my upbringing, that's my foundation. I was raised I the church and I was beginning myself to be judgmental. I left home when I was seventeen to go to college and I remember when I went away from home and I had to make decisions for myself. When you grow up a certain way, in COGIC or Pentecostal church you just think that that's the only way and if you're Baptist, get away, if you're Catholic, get away...
"They going to hell!"
Exactly. [laughs] But I think that even within the Pentecostal and Church Of God In Christ movements that's changing with new leadership. But my heart goes out to everybody, everybody struggles, everybody's struggling, I don't care what it is, we're all struggling.
As far as the album, we've heard about "We Break The Dawn" and we've even heard about "Stop This Car" but tell me about some of the other tracks on this album that people probably haven't heard about.
"Hello Heartbreak", that song is hilarious. It's wonderful because it's like, you're in a relationship, but you're like, something's finna hit me around this corner. Then it's like, oh, hello heartbreak! That's what it is. Hey sadness, I knew I was gon' meet you, 'cuz you never fail, you always gon' be around. That's what "Hello Heartbreak" literally says. I have "Lucky Girl". I feel like the luckiest girl in the world because I feel I got a man who understands me so, where I don't even have to open my mouth, he knows how I feel.
That is lucky...
Ain't that lucky? [laughs]
Don't we wish we all had that? [laughs]
Chile... [laughs] I don't have it but...
It's nice to sing about...
Yeah, it's nice to sing about, but you gotta put it out in the air it'll come back to you. "The Greatest", is a song on there that I feel like will soften the hardest heart. That's gon' be my wedding song, when I walk down the aisle, I'ma be singing "The Greatest". Rico Love actually wrote all of those three songs. He actually did the bulk of my album so it's a consistent kinda flow to it.
So as far as solo releases are concerned, is there friendly competition between you and the girls of Destiny's Child, Beyonce and Kelly? Do you look at their solo success as something you could kinda compare yourself to?
I don't know if I'd say competition. We do look at each other and see what each other is doing. We do our own studying of what it is that we wanna do. Now the world will definitely compare us and put us in competition, but we don't do that with each other. I would never be like "Lemme try to one up her..." I wouldn't do that. You just don't do that to your sisters.
You guys are still really close, right? I saw the pictures of you going to Beyonce's wedding and a few other things...
We're all still very, very, very close. Absolutely.
Will there be a reunion?
[Pause] Maybe one day, I don't know..,
Like a tour or something...?
That would be so hot! We could do a ladies tour.
Especially now since you all have records out. You could do your solo thing and then do your thing together.
Yeah, a lot of people have been asking about that.
This is something we don't hear about very much but are you dating anyone?
No! [laughs] It's not true! I'm not dating Henry Simmons. I'm not dating Chris Tucker. I'm not dating nobody.
Just you and Jesus... [laughs]
Just me and Jesus. [laughs] That settles that.
People ask this kinda thing all the time but I want a real answer to this question. Tell us something about Michelle Williams that nobody knows.
I'm actually a fun, outgoing person. People think I'm quiet and meek. People think I'm at home on the altar slinging blessed oil everywhere. They don't know that I'm talking on the phone to one of my homies, I'm shopping. I go out. I enjoy the nightlife...
You "break the dawn..." [laughs]
I "break the dawn." [laughs]
Who are your favorite designers? What do you like to wear? What are you looking forward to in the next couple of seasons?
Now I'm not just saying this because I've had the pleasure of working with this young lady all my professional life, but Dereon (Beyonce Knowles' clothing company). Baby... the jeans and the shoes are something else. I love Se7en Jeans. I have on J Brand jeans right now. It just depends. I love H&M...
Ain't nothin' wrong with H&M...
This coat is H&M. I am not mad. [laughs]
H&M will get you through. [laughs] You put an H&M piece with a couture piece and put it together and make it happen!
Baby... exactly! And nobody knows. I love all kinds of designers as long as I'm comfortable I don't care if it came from the gift shop at the hotel.
Would you want to do a clothing line?
No, I wouldn't personally wanna do one, but I am working on a cosmetics line, a bath and body line. Right now it's in it's infancy stages but I have created my own body crèmes, bath gels, body scrubs, shea butters. I was actually home pouring a little shea butter and candles and all of that stuff. I got a little science lab in the crib, you know.
So, what's next for Michelle Williams? You've pretty much put your hands into everything so do you want to do more acting?
I would love to do more acting. I love the theatre, so hopefully while I'm here in New York I can check out some shows. I actually wanna originate a show. Because in the past two shows I've stepped in and somebody else has already done the role. I wanna do a role where somebody else has to come in behind me.
Michelle Wiliams
"Unexpected"
2008 Columbia Records
4.5/5
The best thing about "Unexpected" is that it's a good album. It's not as though I didn't expect it to be good, but do you know how awkward it would be for me to have sat and laughed and talked with Michelle Williams that day and to now have to turn around and trash her album. Thankfully the album is good and that's not the case. Church girl said she wanted to make you dance and she's gonna do just that.
The album starts off with "Hello Heartbreak" a cleverly written, electro-flavored, vocodered, dance pop number that's crying to be the next single. It probably won't get much play in urban markets, but the track is so hot that it doesn't even matter. Next there's there's "We Break The Dawn" the poppy first single from the album that gets an urban facelift as "We Break The Dawn (Part 2)" featuring rapper du jour Flo Rida. This should have been sent to urban radio and urban television via a chopped and screwed version of the regular video with footage of Flo Rida spliced in (a la Janet Jackson's "Son Of A Gun (remix)" featuring Missy Elliott and P. Diddy).
Other standouts include the albums second single "The Greatest", a pop R&B song in the vein of Mariah's "We Belong Together" or Mary J's "Be Without You", which is undoubtedly a good song, but a pick in which Michelle and her people played it very safe.
There's also the upbeat, poppy trio of "Till The End Of The World", "Private Party", and "Hungover" which will definitely get the party started. On "Till The End..." my favorite, of the three, I love it when Michelle coos "Will you be my mine, my mannnn..." in the intro.
The leaked track "Stop This Car" gets a slight musical makeover on the album version, making it sound better than it did before. Lastly there are the midtempo revenge ballads "Unexpected", the title track, in which Michelle displays her best vocals on the disc (a la her performance in "Through With Love" on Destiny's Child's "Destiny Fulfilled" album) and the smartly written "Thank U" in which she tanks her ex for cheating on her so that she could finally find the one who was really good for her.
Not only has church girl made us dance, she wiped our tears when were crying, made us laugh and most importantly has given us a good album to listen to.
If you must download, download: "Hello Heartbreak", "The Greatest", "Till The End Of The World", "We Break The Dawn (Part 2)", "Stop This Car" and "Unexpected"
ALBUM IN STORES TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7th, 2008
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Playing In The Background...
"Unexpected"
by Michelle Williams
from the album "Unexpected"
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