Meshell Ndegeocello • army Sergeant Major and saxophonist father Jacques Johnson and health care worker mother Helen. She was raised in Washington, D.C. where she attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Oxon Hill High School. In early press releases from Maverick Records (started in 1992 by Madonna & Frederick DeMann) her birth year was erroneously listed as 1969. The 1968 birth date has been confirmed through a previous manager and lifelong friend. McShell Ndegeocello (born Michelle Lynn Johnson, August 29, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, bassist, and vocalist. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, hip hop, reggae, R&B, rock, and jazz. She has received significant critical acclaim throughout her career, and has had ten career Grammy Award nominations. She has been credited for having "sparked the neo- soul movement." Ndegeocello was born Michelle Lynn Johnson in Berlin, Germany, to Named Michelle Lynn Johnson at birth, Ndegeocello adopted her surname at the age of 17, which she says means "free like a bird" in Swahili. Meshell Ndegeocello is pronounced Mee- shell N-deh-gay-o-chel-o. Early pressings of Plantation Lullabies were stickered with the instructions. The spelling has changed in the hands of record labels a few times during her career; however, the correct spelling of her stage name is now Meshell Ndegeocello. Personal life Ndegeocello is bisexual and previously had a relationship with feminist author Rebecca Walker. She suffers from photosensitive epilepsy and is susceptible to seizures induced by flash photography when she is performing live. Her son Solomon was born in 1989. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her later work. Career Ndegeocello honed her skills on the D.C. in the late 1980s with the bands Prophecy, Little Bennie and the Masters, and Rare Essence. She unsuccessfully tried out for Living Colo