Not performing at Donald Trump’s inauguration wasn’t an option for singer Chrisette Michele who says she “didn’t even think to say no.”
The R&B chanteuse provided some insight into her controversial and highly-criticized decision to perform at Trump’s inaugural ball, during a newly-released interview with Billboard.
Michele again explained that she felt a responsibility to represent for both people of color and women, as a performer.
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“I didn’t even think to say no,” Chrisette Michele said. “It didn’t cross my mind. The first thing I thought was that I have an opportunity to get in front of these people who don’t seem to understand who they’re talking to and show them what we look like. I felt automatically committed to making sure that I stood up for the women who’ve felt disrespected and the minorities who felt disrespected, communities that felt that they weren’t being heard or understood. I thought that it was almost my responsibility to not just say yes but to say yes with purpose, so that was my reasoning. And no, I didn’t think twice about it.”
The singer also clarified rumors that she was given $750,000 to perform are not true. She went on to offer a vague response in regards to how much she did in fact receive, and added that it wasn’t “a money thing.”
“We sent in an offer for how much we charge and they said, ‘Well we don’t have that,’ and the first thing I thought then was how I sang for Barack Obama and Michelle Obama free of charge. This is not a money thing,” she said. “I didn’t perform for free. One, it wasn’t $750,000, but my manager did negotiate my contract.”
Following her inauguration performance, Michele hit the pavement running, taking part in several interviews and even appearing on The Breakfast Club.
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During her interview with the New York City-based trio, she revealed that Trump was “too busy” to meet her and explained taking advantage of her platform by wearing a skirt featuring art by Jean-Michel Basquiat. She also discussed her new record, “No Political Genius.”
On the record, which was released at the top of this week, she chants “White House invites me, you can call me their coon / I am the butterfly growing from history’s cocoon.”
She also calls Spike Lee a “Crook from Crooklyn” for not playing her “Black Girl Magic” song on his Netflix series.
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Audio for Chrisette Michele’s “No Political Genius,” is below.
