K.Michelle's 'Rebellious Soul' Is Drawing Raves From The Critics
K.Michelle is currently best known as one of the hilariously volatile stars of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta, but if early word about her fierce new LP Rebellious Soul is any indication, she's on the verge of becoming one of the biggest stars that R&B and soul music has to offer.
K. Michelle Appears On VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown
K. Michelle and VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown host Jim Shearer
K. Michelle VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown
Although we won't know sales figures for another week, Rebellious Soul got off to an incredibly strong start on the charts this week; it is currently sitting at #3 on the iTunes Album Chart, right behind massive country music star Luke Bryan's Crash My Party and Lady Gaga's ARTPOP (which is available for pre-order). It has been bolstered by some incredibly strong reviews from critics, some of which we have compiled for you below:
+"Rebellious Soul has the confidence of survival. K. Michelle’s aiming for the sweaty pathos of Mary J. Blige, and sometimes, as on 'Sometimes' and 'Damn,' she comes close. The same is true of 'My Life,' the album opener, which begins, like many of the best songs here, with urgent piano. It’s a catalog of mistreatment and dark pathways, and also K. Michelle’s testament about besting them: 'All my life I been struggling and stressing/That’s why I come up in this bitch with aggression.' Fortunately, she didn’t waste it all on a TV show."—Jon Caramanica, New York Times
+"Rebellious Soul paints the portrait of 2013's multidimensional gal: she can be sensitive, lusty, compassionate, short-tempered, worrisome, confident, ratchet and at any given time, may try to hide a part of herself from view. K. Michelle compiles a soundtrack for the non cookie-cutter ladies who are still a work in progress and totally okay with that ... She isn’t interested in being the ideal role model to her fans. She’s just a woman living and figuring out her life at the same speed as everyone else, enjoying and sharing every bit of the ride with us.—Stacy-Ann Ellis, Vibe
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+"Reality TV junkies might know this fiery singer from VH1's 'Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta,' but she's been releasing real-talk-filled mixtapes for the past three years ... She shows off her super-raunchy, defiantly strong and maternally devoted sides, among others. All of these lyrics sound like they were written in moments of high passion, thanks in part to her take-no-prisoners voice."—Maura Johnston, MSN Music
+"Thank you, K. Michelle. For being the older sister who went through it all, just so we wouldn’t have to. Luckily for us, she’s put it all on wax in her record label debut, Rebellious Soul (Atlantic). No matter how much real talk she delivers, she still reminds you that you two are more alike than different ... One thing is for sure, in a few years, we’ll still be talking about this album and every story that came with it."—Kareem Taylor, AllHipHop.com
[Photos: VH1/Lauren Weissler]