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.

On Alanis Morissette's 2002 album Under Rug Swept, she plays bass on the songs "So Unsexy" and "You Owe Me Nothing in Return".

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".

[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.