India.Arie defends Chrisette Michele

Please! No More!….India.Arie defends Chrisette Michele in open letter.

Things are continuing to get more complicated for music fans like me. After Chrisette Michele was blasted for performing at the inauguration, she conveniently dropped a new track titled “No Political Genius.” The timing and name of the track only adds fuel to the fire for those who feel that Chrisette may be using the backlash to recharge her career. She has been out of the spotlight for quite some time and the media attention given to her performance has created a visibility that she has arguably never had before.

I was disappointed in Chrisette’s placement, not performance at the Inauguration. In my mind, I pictured her having an iconic moment singing for a president amidst a crowd of people who probably never heard of her. Instead, Chrisette performed ad-libs for a track that is nearly two years old, that will not even benefit her because it was not her song. Her performance was not at the actual inauguration, but one of the stages later that evening.

Since news of the performance broke, Chrisette has received both a large amount of backlash and support. Most recently, India.Arie wrote an open letter to defend her choice to perform. India.Arie asserts that while she would “never” have performed herself, she doesn’t believe Chrisette deserves the backlash that she has received. This president has been called divisive, but is he so divisive that he will divide the music world also? I would like for it all to stop before one of my favorite artists gets involved and I’m forced to smash all of their CDs. I love India.Arie, please tread lightly.