Meshell Ndegeocello

Meshell Ndegeocello is an unassuming colossus whose body of work extends far beyond the early hits and virtuosic bass playing with which she is most associated. “If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night),” her taunting and funky breakout single, immediately set her apart as an instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer.

Less than a year after the song entered Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop, dance, and pop charts, Ndegeocello was nominated for four Grammys, including Best R&B Album and Best Pop Vocal Collaboration. Ndegeocello has remained impossible to typecast ever since.

A preternatural synthesist, she has mixed and moved across jazz, blues, soul, funk, and reggae, as well as folk and rock. As a band leader, she has alternated just as freely between small combos and large ensembles, and as a session musician and featured artist has written and recorded across an even wider spectrum of styles.

In addition to her lithe and melodic primary instrument and vocals encompassing authoritative raps, pensive spoken word, and ethereal choruses, Ndegeocello has played keyboards, drums, and guitar, among other instruments.

Foremost among the many highlights in her catalog are three additional Grammy-nominated albums: Peace Beyond Passion (1996), Ventriloquism (2018), and Omnichord Real Book (2023), the latter of which marked her Blue Note debut and took the first Grammy for Best Alternative Jazz Album.