There was an outpouring of disappointment when news broke that R&B singer/songwriter Chrisette Michele would be performing at Trump’s inauguration. While many fans hoped the singer would cancel, she went ahead and performed as planned.
Her decision to do so cost her dearly, with director Spike Lee cutting her music from his upcoming Netflix remake of She’s Gotta Have It. But Michele’s fiancé, Doug Ellison, fired back at the acclaimed director, posting and then deleting a piece from late art icon Basquiat with the caption “F–k You!” Michele’s fiancé may have tried to seem witty with the caption––”F–k You” is possibly a reference to another Basquiat piece––but the piece Ellison posted is actually titled “La Hara.” The singer decided to stick by her man, sharing the post on Twitter before it was deleted.
Monday morning, Michele dropped “No Political Genius,” a spoken word track from a forthcoming project called Still American. The track is meant to provide hope and spark discussion, however, lyrics include, “I am the black song that Spike Lee won’t sing” and “Hip hop for Jay Z, now you say You Lost One / R&B for Def Jam, Rich Hipster for Brooklyn / But Spike won’t pay me, A Crook from Crooklyn” as the singer throws shots and continues to defend her inauguration performance throughout the poem.
The singer has also taken to Instagram in her continued efforts to clarify her reason for performing at Trump’s inauguration. Writing,”I had an amazing time lifting up the name of Jesus last night with my friend @travisgreenetv #LoveOnly #LightOnly #HopeOnly,” she wrote, “Thank you to @aliceandolivia for the collaborative, CFDA and Basquiat piece I wore to the ball. The proceeds support the advancement of the creative arts…a place that is being stripped, in order to reduce ‘government spending’.”
