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Michelle Blackwell Keeps Go-Go Evolving

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Go-go artist Michelle Blackwell first started working on her new album, Go-go-Ish (1st Set), in the fall of 2019. She had written seven songs when COVID abruptly shut down the local music scene, as well as nearly every other aspect of her life. For the first time in 19 years, she stopped performing live, and her concerns about safety prevented her from bringing musicians into the studio to record.

The next few years would be challenging both personally and professionally for Blackwell. By the end of April 2020, she had not only lost the stage, but also her beloved grandmother, Dr. Alyce McLendon Chenault Gullattee. The former head of Howard University’s Institute on Drug Abuse and Addiction, Gullattee was a respected social activist. While mourning her loss, Blackwell began a new job as a program manager for the National Association for the Advancement of Returning Citizens. Working for the District’s Cure the Streets initiative as a violence interrupter, Blackwell knew the work was important, but it was also deeply distressing. “My son is a gun violence survivor, and I’ve lost many friends to violence, so it was extremely triggering,” she says. “At the same time, COVID was everywhere, and I’m watching people die all over the country.”

Eventually, she found a second job, working as an operations manager for the Black Coalition Against COVID. Again, the work was challenging. “The amount of gaslighting and misinformation, it was like a train wreck,” she says. 

Moreover, Blackwell found herself feeling less connected to her community of fans; by her own estimate, she lost approximately 1,000 of her 20,000 combined followers during the pandemic. She is convinced this was due to her continued efforts to keep her fans alive. “I was relentless,” she says. “The only thing I was feeding them was COVID safety protocols and not music, so I understand why many left. But I wouldn’t change anything. I have a platform, and I had a responsibility to do what I felt was the right thing.”

When Blackwell finally returned to her album in May 2021, much of it no longer seemed relevant. “I’m looking at these songs, and I’m just like, ‘This is not what I’m feeling right now. This does not represent what I’m trying to say, how I feel creatively,’” she recalls.



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