Michel'le

• Michel'le [Ruthless, 1989] B+

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Michel'le [Ruthless, 1989]
People say I sound like a baby, but I'm a hundred per cent woman," she chirps on "Special Thanks," most of them tendered to the usual sexist suspects surrounding her producer and guest rapper, N.W.A.'s Dr. Dre. A rapper she's not--like Bobby Brown or Al B. Sure, she's a singer in a rap world, and though her voice is less surprising when she doesn't talk, she gets the decibels up there even with her warble set on squeal. She can liquefy like Chaka or Teena, too, which is impressive even though neither songstress could get away with these slow ones. The fast ones hint at what an L.A. woman has to do to get the sexist suspects to stop calling her a bitch with the tape running--act half-nice, half-nasty (in a word, "Nicety"), and assume real love is her prerogative. B+