K. Michelle - KIMBERLY: The People I Used To Know (2017)

K. Michelle has been one of the frankest contemporary R&B artists of the late 2000s and 2010s. The singer and songwriter, a native of Memphis born Kimberly Michelle Pate, signed to Jive in 2008, releasing a pair of singles ("Self Made," "Fakin' It") that brushed the charts soon after. During 2010, "Fallin'" and "I Just Can't Do This" performed better on the R&B chart, and she also featured on tracks by R. Kelly, Juicy J, and Ruben Studdard. By 2012, she had signed to appear on the VH1 reality show Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, and she inked a contract with Atlantic soon after. Her debut album, Rebellious Soul, was released in August 2013 and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Two singles peaked outside the Top 20 of the R&B chart, but the singer later picked up a Soul Train award for Best New Artist. After a headlining tour, a stint opening for Robin Thicke, and a Rebellious Soul musical, directed by Idris Elba and aired on VH1, K. Michelle starred in another VH1 series, K. Michelle: My Life. Its first episode premiered a few weeks prior to the release of Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?, her second Top Ten album of blunt yet imaginative storytelling. In March 2016, while K. Michelle: My Life was in its second season, she released her third album, More Issues Than Vogue. Another Top Ten hit, and third consecutive R&B/Hip-Hop topper, its biggest hit, "Not a Little Bit," was written with Kelly Price. As My Life wrapped up in early 2017, K. Michelle started releasing pre-album singles that led to the December release of the characteristically forthright Kimberly: People I Used to Know. ~ John Bush