K. Michelle, star of VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” and R. Kelly’s musical protegee opened up about being her music and reality TV career.
“You have to stay tuned, but my role in the show is just kinda my story about being a single mother and a singer who’s just going through the day-to-days of trying to get my career back on track and finding love again,” K. Michelle told Vibe Vixen magazine. For so long, I’ve been kinda against [finding love] because my past situation was so bad. So, you definitely get the real K. Michelle and where I’m at in my life.”
In December 2008, the R&B/Soul singer and songwriter was signed to Jive Records, where she met her label mate R. Kelly, who became her mentor. K. Michelle is the only artist featured on R. Kelly’s 2010 album “Love Letter.”
“Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” premiered on June 18 and is a spin-off of VH1’s original “Love & Hip Hop” series. During the premiere, K. Michelle accused Jive Records music executive Mickey “Memphitz” Wright of domestic abuse. On the series, she said that she was in a violent relationship with the man who signed her at Jive and claimed that he beat her and spent her recording budget on himself.
Memphitz celebrated his one-year wedding anniversary with Lil Wayne’s ex-wife Toya this week. Toya took to Twitter to address the rumors of abuse, re-Tweeting a fan’s post which read, “@MeMpHiTz & @ToyaWright been married a whole year now all of a sudden ppl accusing him of being abusive?? #HATERSINDABUILDIN.”
When visiting “Girl Talk” on IPower 92 radio station this week, K. Michelle told TT Torrez that she wasn’t afraid to talk about the relationship, “I wasn’t scared about that because you are only scared when you’re lying and you only get scared when there aren’t any facts. His family still talks to me and they know the truth. For me, it was like, I still try to do it right and not be shady out of respect for Toya and the situation. I did not even say his name… He probably is a different man now. Different women bring out different things in men. I wasn’t the one to calm him.”
K. Michelle told Vibe Vixen that she plans to continue concentrating on her music career. Her single “Bury My Heart,” which was featured on “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta,” is currently No. 19 on the iTunes R&B/Soul chart. Her new album, “0 [expletive] Given,” is slated for release on July 9.
“My main focus has been my music and it’s not gonna stop,” K. Michelle said. “I was signed to a record label, and I hardly got any promo. I can see today that more people are picking up old music like it’s new. I think it’s gonna help me and people get to know who I am and it’s up to me to make sure that the music sticks. One thing R. Kelly told me is that once you get the attention, you have to keep it with the talent.”
The 26-year-old singer is also a single mother to her son, 7-year-old Chase Boyman. The reality show will follow K. Michelle as she ventures back into the dating world.
“I do want to find Mr. Right, but I feel like I need to heal a little bit more,” K. Michelle said. “[My ideal mate would be someone with] big arms, God-fearing, someone that my son can grow up like. That’s a very big thing for me in dating. And just someone that can make me laugh. I’m a handful, so someone who just knows how to let me be me.”