From the 90’s Era Till Now, Yvette Michele Is Giving Her Fans Elegance and Timeless Music
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Yvette Michele hit the scene in the late 90’s when R&B grew wings and shifted into a sultrier and more provocative era that’s now considered nostalgic. The story telling from talented curators of music would be an escape on the spring and summer days where the sonnets were most tantalizing, prompting a moment within the movement. It was a lit period and the capacity for singers was broad, original, and unmatched.
Yvette broke into the industry on Funkmaster Flex mixtape with a love letter penned in “Every Night, Every Day,” and the song became a commercialized hit.
Funkmaster Flex and Yvette Michele were old schoolmates, that ran into one another some years after. Yvette expressed that she wanted to break into the industry with her music, and as someone with a good ear for talent that parlayed at the different stations, learning the ins and out of the industry, Flex was the perfect person. It was Yvettes’ first song, and the only original track on the Funkmaster Flex mixtape. The single is from Yvette Micheles 1997 album, My Dream.
She released “I’m not feeling you,” and that earned her a Billboard Award—The third track, “DJ Keep Playin” was follow up to “Every Night, Every Day,” with a disco and party vibe...
“I think in hindsight it was more of a, in the moment,”Yvette recalled when asked about that release. “I was innovative, but I didn’t know it was going to be such a stamp in history at the time. I felt very privileged. I felt it was a lot of responsibility to, you know, spearhead the record because everything else was pre-released, but at the same time it was exciting. It was an opportunity to be seen,”
Yvette was a trendsetter that set the tone for what R&B could look like when it’s relaxed, and subtle, making the songs more fluid for the night clubs.
Now, it’s 30 years later, and Yvette Michele released that same familiar bop that landed her on the billboards to begin with. She says she never lost the desire to beat her highest score.
“I wanted a sophomore project, and it didn’t happen in the nineties, and my life has evolved as I have more bandwidth now. I am no longer parenting, actively. I have elbow room in my personal life, and I wanted to take a stab at it. In addition to that the resurgence or look-back to the 90’s, the era-artists are at a peek, and so it’s almost like it made sense to just join the bandwagon since the train had already left the station and see what would be available for me. It’s been great. I didn’t expect this much love. I didn’t expect it to really take on a life of its own, in the way that it has but I am buckled in for the ride; so, yeah.”
The singer went on to say that music today is fair game for anyone…
“You can be discovered in the past, but the mechanism to get to the forefront was difficult. The funnel got smaller, and smaller, and smaller as you got closer to the limelight- but, here, anybody can put themselves out there on the internet or on social media- I think that it can make it a little bit of a crowded playing field but at the same time, how many comedians, artists, singers are we finding in this mix, in this sea of folks that are excellent that may or may not have been discovered otherwise. It’s amazing to me. On a personal level, I’m always challenging myself to find new things or to find the things that I love in music and the artistry of today.
People say R&B is dead, and I don’t subscribe to that. I just think we need to look harder—and Spotify, apps like pandora, apple music, and their search mechanisms, have allowed me to discover folks that are so good. My best example is Andeson Pac, before people discovered who he is.”
Yvette Michele was discovered because she was a bomb vocalist frolicking in her soft girl era, and it allowed for her talents and aesthetics to exist simultaneously—She said that when she broke out with the hit, “Mr. DJ,” it was during that time when she was heavily on the night club scene, where the DJ had the club rockin, she was recently divorced, and like any single woman, she was dating and having fun. She also paid homage to Funkmaster Flex and, why not? He put her in position to make hits.
Yvette said another DJ from a different country named FENN sampled the single on Sound Cloud, and a record label wanted to sign him based off his remake of the song. The new version of Mr. DJ is like the older jam, but it’s EDM. Instead of sampling Yvettes’ music, she was able to collaborate on the project, and alas, the song was reawakened to fit this era, in another genre.
“The 90’s was a golden time to become an R&B artist. The period is unmatched when we talk about the originality where soul and blues still had a place, but then you added the same songs to remix specifically for the night clubs, and these records that were already hits became even larger...
“The creativity in the moment, everyone was vying to be different and unique, and I felt free to express myself naturally; and it fit in the moment. It wasn’t a stretch,” Yvette Michelle spoke about her singles I’m Not Feeling Your, and Every Night, Every Day. “I also think about radio, because it was a DJ driven environment, and that is different today.”
It took Yvette Michelle a while to give herself credit as being that girl…
“I took my ego out of it and stopped analyzing it like a case study,” she laughed. “I really enjoyed my record. Sometimes I am overly critical of self, and I think that’s with every artist. We’re always just assessing and reassessing, but I love my record and I think about the various producers I worked with.”
Yvette Michelle performed at the Apollo Theater in 1997…
“It was a surreal moment. I really didn’t know how to process it at first. It took a moment even though I auditioned at the Apollo before I was discovered. You know, it was one of those Sandman moments where they came out and got you. That’s what came to mind when I performed professionally. It was like I had arrived— This is the measure of a man. If you can make it at the Apollo- If you’re invited to the Apollo opposed to auditioning to tryout, you’ve made it. As much as I’ve done bigger and better venues, that was the way that affected me—I have arrived as an African American from New York City, born and raised in Harlem. What more can I ask for? I rode down the street, saw my name on the marquee, took a picture of it, and stood outside. It was just touching.”
Yvette climbed the ranks to stardom all while going through the motions —She agrees that it wasn’t easy, and she had to decide on the balance, what remained in the forefront as well as that thing that took a backseat…
Life decided for me. I was a single parent, and I had young children when I got my record deal. They were 2 and 5. I was divorced by the time I got my record on the radio; so, life was changed for me on a personal level. I was trying to establish myself as a single parent, and in that, I was a sole provider—and when industry money became less consistent, when I didn’t see a path to a level up, I had to make some tough choices. My kids and their needs don’t stop just because the deals don’t flow. I made the choice to be a parent and put them first—The rest followed. I got interested in trying to be multifaceted as the result of the instability within the industry. That was my first experience seeing the dips. I had heights, but I didn’t experience the lows. In experiencing it, it taught me that I always need backup...”
The singer pivoted to corporate America, from limelight to office administration where the budgets no longer mattered, because living a satisfying lifestyle with children became the necessary goal.
The phrase “You gotta stay down until you come up,” is a euphemism that best describes the cycle that Yvette found herself in. She stayed down, she still had dreams, and now she’s back in the game stronger than before.
Yvette is excited about her freedom, and releasing the new record creatively, in ways she couldn’t have imagined in the 90’s.
She recently, appeared on a live set during the Cadillac chronicles, singing Every Night, Every Day, live… “I thought that it’d be fun and it turned out to be a game changer,” she said. “I was recognized and discovered again, because of that video, and I was not expecting that. It was a great way to end my 2025.”
This chapter of the singer’s life, is bearing good fruit… “It’s less pressure because there is more work. I am the label. I am A&R. I am the vocal coach. There is a lot more that I must do. I market it, and I’m doing social media posts to spread the word. I have support from systems such as PR, makeup artist and things—people on the outskirts of the motion I’m in. It’s really all on me.”
Although Yvette has support of resources like publicist, and a makeup artist, she’s cut out the middleman. She is the decision maker over her career— Yvette said she misses aspects of the past where the management team walked her through the process, but she’s grateful for where she is now and she isn’t on this journey alone because she has rapport with other artists that are going through the same things as her. Yvette is immensely grateful to jump back in the game with both feet moving, instead of one foot in the industry, and one foot out, waiting on the other shoe to drop.
Yvette Michele is pioneering, and that’s a large deed to carry. Ten years from now, people will still remember the singer’s name. She wants people to feel nostalgic when they hear it, though…
“I also want them to think of someone who never gave up, who is against the odds, who decided to revisit and face the challenges from the past to bring closure, and to be fulfilled in life—Someone persistent and dedicated, artistic, intelligent, and true to this. Not someone that’s doing it for fame.”
But, when people hear her music today, Yvette just wants the acknowledgment that she was, and is a vocalist...
“I know that my songs were dance songs, but I’d like them to recognize the breath of my talent. I’m hoping that my future projects will allow me to showcase that. I’d like them to recognize my longevity, the staying power, and the fact that I do have a sound that’s unique and sets me apart. I think I want them to know that I have more than one aspect or facet to my artistry. I can flow between different types of genres, gospel, R&B, House and pop. I want them to love it or like the music. I want to bring in new listeners, and that’s the exciting part. Fans that know me, I’d like to be able to convey the same goodness that got me where I am today, but in a way that endears people to my sound.”
Visit @dearyvettemichle to learn more about the songstress and her upcoming projects.
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