Meshell Ndegeocello (/mɪˈʃɛl ənˌdeɪɡeɪoʊˈtʃɛloʊ/ mish-EL ən-DAY-gay-oh-CHEL-oh;[2] born Michelle Lynn Johnson on August 29, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist.

[3] Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock.

[8] Ndegeocello honed her skills on the D.C. go-go circuit in the late 1980s with the bands Prophecy, Little Benny and the Masters, and Rare Essence.

Her biggest hit is a duet with John Mellencamp, a cover version of Van Morrison's "Wild Night", which reached No.

(briefly featured in the film Jerry Maguire) as well as Dance Top 20 hits with "Earth", "Leviticus: Faggot", "Stay" and the aforementioned "If That's Your Boyfriend.. Last Night)".

Her music has been featured in a number of film soundtracks including How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Lost & Delirious, Batman & Robin, Love Jones, Love & Basketball, Talk to Me, Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls, The Best Man, Higher Learning, Down in the Delta, The Hurricane, Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom, Soul Men, and Biker Boyz.

Also that year, she appeared on Gov’t Mule’s record The Deep End, Volume 2, playing on a cover of The Staple Singers’ song "Hammer and Nails".

[13] She also collaborated with French-Cuban duo Ibeyi in the song "Transmission/Michaelion" for the album Ash reciting a poem by Frida Kahlo.

[15][16][17] Ndegeocello joined the Blue Note label with the debut release of her 13th studio album The Omnichord Real Book (2023).

The title refers to a set of lead sheets from songs from funk, soul, gospel and more influenced by her father as if a compilation of standards like a real book in jazz repertoire.

In 2010, Ndegeocello contributed to the essay anthology It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living, edited by Dan Savage and Terry Miller in the vein of the It Gets Better Project.