[9][10] Michelle has also starred in reality series Love & Hip Hop: New York, K. Michelle: My Life and Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood (under the name Kimberly), as well as in her own special, The Rebellious Soul Musical, directed by Golden Globe winner Idris Elba.

[14] As a child, Michelle learned to play piano and guitar, and took voice lessons from Bob Westbrook, who also trained pop singers Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears.

[18] She reports that she stopped attending classes for a short time to have a son born in September 2004, then returned to finish college.

[19] She graduated from FAMU with honors and was accepted into several law schools but did not attend, opting to pursue music full-time.

[25][26] The editor of "GossipWeLove.com" commented on the discrepancies in reported birth year, registering disbelief that Michelle could have entered college, and won her class's prom beauty contest, at age 14.

[27] In 2009, Michelle signed a deal with Jive Records and released her first R&B-charting single, "Fakin' It", featuring Missy Elliott.

[28] At the time, Michelle was in the process of recording her debut album, originally titled Pain Medicine, which was slated to have features from artists such as Trina,[29][30] Gucci Mane, Akon, Usher, and R. Kelly, who she would credit as her mentor during this period.

On January 14, 2014, the album's second single "Can't Raise a Man" was released, which peaked at number 94 on the U.S.

[45] During this time, Michelle joined Robin Thicke on the North American leg of his Blurred Lines Tour, which began on February 21, 2014, in Atlanta, Georgia.

[46] K's purpose on Love & Hop: New York was mainly served to set up her own spin-off series, K. Michelle: My Life, which premiered November 3, 2014.

[47][48] On September 16, 2014, Michelle released "Love 'Em All" on iTunes as the first single from her second album Anybody Wanna Buy a Heart?.

Kevin, editor-in-chief of Spin Media website Direct Lyrics, described "Love 'Em All" as a "powerful and gritty" song and a "heartbreaker anthem".

[56][57] From February 11, 2016, Michelle released several promo singles from the album, including "Ain't You",[58] "Mindful" and "Time".

[65][66] On February 3, 2017, Michelle released the single "Got Me Crazy", alongside DJ Feezy, Rick Ross and Fabolous.

On September 8, 2017, Michelle released two singles from her fourth album Kimberly: The People I Used to Know, "Birthday" and "Either Way", featuring Chris Brown.

Tour stops, Michelle announced the title of her fifth album, All Monsters Are Human, set to be released in January 2020.

"[73] On January 10, she revealed cover art and tracklist for All Monsters Are Human and made the album available for pre-order on digital retailers Apple Music and Amazon.

[74][75] All Monsters Are Human was released to positive critical reviews on January 31, 2020,[76] along with a music video for one of the songs from the album, "Just Like Jay".

[83] She released a country song titled "Tennessee" as a bonus track on the album, debuting it under her alter ego, Puddin'.

[84] She also featured on the track "Country Love Song" with Justin Champagne[85] and appeared on The Judds tribute album, A Tribute to the Judds, which was released on October 27, 2023, on a cover of "Love Can Build a Bridge" alongside Jelly Roll and Fisk Jubilee Singers.

[86] K. Michelle and Jelly Roll performed the song together on the 57th Annual Country Music Association Awards on November 8, 2023.

[88] K. Michelle, who had initially wanted to be a country music singer before beginning her R&B career, moved to Nashville and became "fully engulfed" in the process, making connections with creatives, playing with musicians, and recording in her in-home studio.

[82] She performed in June 2024 at CMA Fest for the second time in her career, and is finalizing her first headlining tour as a country act.