Meshell Ndegeocello

An extraordinarily versatile and energetic performer, Meshell Ndegeocello – born Michelle Lynn Johnson in Berlin, Germany on August 29, 1968 - is an acclaimed rapper, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She is also an ardent political activist campaigning on race and gender issues. Born in Berlin, her American father, a sergeant major who also played jazz saxophone, was serving in the army. She was mostly raised in Washington DC and attended the Duke Ellington School of Arts and adopted the surname of Ndegeocello when she was 17. She forged a local reputation playing in various DC bands before becoming one of the first artists signed to Madonna's Maverick Records label as a solo artist, releasing her debut album Plantation Lullabies in 1993. It won her huge critical acclaim, encompassing hip-hop, soul, funk, and jazz and was credited as a landmark release in the neo-soul movement which incorporated a mix of soul, funk, and R&B. It also spawned her first hit “If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)” and went on to receive three Grammy nominations. She also had a hit duetting with John Mellencamp on a cover of Van Morrison's “Wild Night” a year later and collaborated with Chaka Khan on the track “Never Miss the Water.” Meshell Ndegeocello also sang on several movie soundtracks including White Man's Burden and Money Talks. Her second album, Peace Beyond Passion (1996), was also well received with its broad range of styles and seductive tunes, political lyrics, new age sensitivity, and a cover of Bill Withers' “Who Is He and What Is He to You.” She went on to involve herself in numerous collaborations with jazz musicians and hip-hop artists and continued to explore a vast gamut of styles on subsequent solo releases Bitter (1999), Cookie: The Anthropoligical Mixtape (2002), Comfort Woman (2003), The Spirit Music Jamia (2005), Devil's Halo (2009), Weather (2011) and Comet Come to Me (2014). In 2018, she surprised everyone with Ventriloquism, a charity album of pop and R&B covers recorded in the 1990s with a portion of the profits donated to the American Civil Liberties Union. Signing with Blue Note Records, Meshell Ndegeocello released the album The Omnichord Real Book (2023), which featured musical assistance from Joan as Police Woman, Brandee Younger, Jeff Parker, Jason Moran, and others. In April 2024, Meshell Ndegeocello produced and curated The Magic City, the third album in the Red Hot & Ra tribute series. The following month, she released the single “Travel,” which was the first single lifted from her 2024 solo album No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin.

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