*It’s 2025 and Chrisette Michele is a better state of mind, compared to her 2017 mental state. The year she caught the wrath of black folk in opposition of Donald Trump and his first term as Commander-in-Chief.
“I thought they’d never stop hating me” the singer said about the backlash that put a cloud over her head for years.
To say Michele was far from Black America’s favorite daughter is an understatement. Time building a healthy buzz with collaborations from rap heavyweights like Nas and Jay-Z, among other things, took a serious nosedive, with fans and Roots drummer Questlove, among others in the music industry, writing her off.
“I just remember sitting in a hotel lobby next to my manager, who was my husband of two years at the time, in tears, thinking, ‘Maybe I’ll just become a professor,’” the “Lost One” vocalist shared with The Guardian. “The constant gnawing and chewing and shouting at me was so difficult.”
If she knew then what she knows now.
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Michele had no idea what would come after accepting the invite Trump’s team extended to a 2017 inauguration event. For the record, the “Can’t Forget About You” entertainer doesn’t support or particularly like Trump and was aware of the potential career ramifications. Yet curiosity prevailed with Michele viewing her performance more as a chance to confront Trump and see if he kept the same racist, misogynistic vibe he held publicly.
Although gospel greats like Travis Greene and Tina Campbell (of Mary Mary fame) performed at the same event, Michele, because of her more mainstream appeal, got most of the attention. So much so that longtime supporters of the “Rising Up” collaborator begged her to reconsider. Questlove and Talib Kweli even tried to stop Michele as they volunteered to pay her not to perform, a move that hurt in the worst way.
“Honestly, I had to stop paying attention after a while,” she admitted.
The blackballing was a noticeable shift from when Barack Obama added “If I Have My Way,” a ballad from Michele’s debut album to his summer playlist in 2016. Add in First Lady Michelle Obama as a longtime fan and Chrisette Michele is on Black America’s good side.
Just like Snoop Dogg.
The difference is Snoop Dogg, the Long Beach CA-based rhyme legend, as well as fellow rappers Rick Ross and Soulja Boy, did not get the cold shoulder when he performed at January’s inaugural Crypto Ball. Yes, longtime fans called him a sellout and unfollowed him after DJ’ing a party for Trump’s second inauguration. Yes, his anti-hate Super Bowl commercial with Tom Brady failed to get the reaction it wanted. But the fact remains. The Doggfather is coming out far better than Michelle ever did after displaying her talent for the MAGA crowd.
During Trump’s first term, Snoop was noted for opposing the then-leader of the free world. Among his memorable acts of defiance was the time he labeled Black artists who performed for Trump’s inaugural as “Uncle Toms” and “jigaboos.” And then there was the 2017 music video for the song “Lavender,” a heavy-handed Trump allegory, featuring a society of clowns ruled by a character named Ronald Klump, whom Snoop shoots with a toy gun.
Yet pigs flew when the “Drop It Like It’s Hot” entertainer switched his stance on Trump in 2021 after the former “Apprentice” fixture pardoned Death Row Records co-founder Michael “Harry-O” Harris. At the time, Harris had been serving a 25-years-to-life sentence for drug trafficking and attempted murder.
“I have nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump,” Snoop said last year. “He has done only great things for me.”
For more about Chrisette Michele and her thoughts on the backlash she got for performing for Donald Trump click here.
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