Singer Chrisette Michele responds — again — to inauguration performance backlash

Gospel singer Travis Greene, left, and R&B singer Chrisette Michele perform at the “Liberty” Inaugural Ball in Washington on Jan. 20. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

Conventional wisdom might dictate that the safest response to social media backlash is good old-fashioned silence — at least until the tweets die down. R&B singer Chrisette Michele, who faced razor-sharp criticism following her decision to perform at President  Trump’s inauguration, is clearly not the silent type.

On Monday, Michele, who last week quoted Martin Luther King to counter backlash against her, released a spoken word track titled “No Political Genius” to further articulate her stance against the haters, including film director Spike Lee, who decided not to use Michele’s music in an upcoming film because of her inauguration gig, and The Roots member DJ Questlove, who offered to pay the singer not to perform at all.

“No Political Genius,” a nod to the hashtag of Michele’s original online comeback, begins thusly:  “I am the black song Spike Lee won’t sing. I am the black voice inauguration bells ring.” It goes on to allude to black sheeps, black elephants, red rooms, God, black girl magic, the White House and her own career path from Jay Z’s Def Jam to her own independent label, Rich Hipster.

The description of the two-minute poem posted by the singer calls for “listeners to stop bickering and start listening to each others’ point of view.” The track is part of a new poetry album with which Michele, who is also described here as detesting “the system” and dedicated to women’s rights, “hopes to take a well spoken stab at holding hands with America.” And the singer plans on sparking “some real dialogue.”

The fact that the “Be OK” crooner has managed to make headlines well past the sell-by date of the inauguration controversy is likely an added bonus for Michele, who is on tour. Back in August, Michele performed some of her greatest hits (mostly from her 2007 album “I Am”) for the Obamas at a state dinner in honor of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.