- Gabriele Filippi
- Nov 2020
- 4 min
- 855 views
An anthem for every woman who has been made to feel inferior, “Nasty Woman” musically expresses both the resilience and the exhaustion of women who are endlessly fighting for equality.
Today, Chel has over one million loyal followers on Facebook and a tribe of over 100,000 on Instagram.
Her music videos have amassed around 30 million views. She has been featured in outlets like Billboard, Sports Illustrated IG, Celebmix, and Sweetyhigh.
Her brand endorsements includeFabFitFun, Fashion Nova, GitiOnline, and Good American. She has also appeared as a runway model during New York Fashion Week and Anthropologie in Los Angeles.
And she’s still on the rise …
Born in Springfield, Illinois, Chel began taking music lessons at five years old. Her father, a dedicated music lover, constantly played music in the house; and her uncle, a musician, regularly let her come over and sing with his band. Of course, Springfield isn’t prized for its music scene, so Chel and her dad would often drive to St. Louis to see concerts. And that’s where Chel found her first big opportunity in music.
“I lived in St. Louis for eight and a half years,” says Chel. “In 2013, I was taking lessons at Nelly’s school and they asked me to represent the whole school on a summer concert tour with Murphy Lee. That’s where I met a producer who asked me if I wanted to make music professionally. I never looked back.”
Though Chel was dedicated to pursuing a life in music, her journey proved full of unexpected obstacles. For most of her life, Chel was told that she did not have the looks or the body type to succeed in the music industry. When that first opportunity came along in St. Louis, people laughed. Bullied online and mocked, Chel had every reason to give up. Instead, she prevailed and has since become a role model and body-positive ambassador for droves of young women. “I’m most proud of the fact that I didn’t give up,” says Chel.
“When I finally got the opportunity to make music while living in St. Louis, it felt like fate. People on the internet were pretty mean when I first started posting videos, but I kept going. I performed shows to empty audiences, and I kept going. I had people laugh in my face and talk behind my back, making jokes about what I was trying to do, and I kept going. I had countless people hurt me along the way and I kept going. I moved across the country to a place where I knew no one and had nothing waiting for me and I kept going. Through all the ups and downs, I kept going. Music is my passion and always has been. I have a deep feeling in my soul that this is what I am supposed to be doing. I absolutely love it. And, I keep going.”
To date, Chel has been featured in Billboard, Sports Illustrated IG, Celebmix, Groknation, Galore, Eighteen21, and Riptide. Her brand endorsements include FabFitFun, FashioNova, GitiOnline, and Good American. She has also appeared as a runway model during New York Fashion Week and Anthropology in L.A. Inspired and influenced by artists like Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Freddie Mercury (Queen), Hall & Oates, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Adele, Rihanna and Lizzo, Chel continues to defy the odds while spreading love and positivity.
“I’m going to keep writing about things I care about, like self-care, gender equality, racial equality, and mental health awareness,” says Chel. “I’m just going to keep pushing. I’m continually amazed by the amount of progress my team and I have been able to make. I don’t like to plan too far ahead because I try to live in the present. I am so excited to see where this wonderful life takes me over the next few years.”
Her music, her drive, and her creativity have made Chel a force to be reckoned with and she is just getting started.
Continuing to fuel her artistic and creative vision, last month, this powerhouse singer/songwriter and body-positive model released her celebratory single, “Nasty Woman.” The dedication? An empowering anthem for every woman who has been made to feel inferior, which expresses both the resilience and the exhaustion of women who are endlessly fighting for equality.
Chel wrote the song for her grandma; a woman who taught her what it means to be a strong, centered woman. When thinking about her grandmother, Chel couldn’t ignore a current trend in popular culture – calling strong women “nasty.”
“Conceptually, I wanted the video to represent several things,” shares Chel. “I start it off dressed as a young girl at a dinner table with a shadow of a person trying to push and pull her into Lady-like positions. I wanted this to represent society’s expectations for women as we grow from young girls, into adults. A big part of the music video is featuring other women and men in support of women saying why they are nasty. I wanted that nasty to symbolize strength. I also wanted the performance scene to be in protest to show that we are not backing down from this fight until we are equal. I wanted this video to not be about me, but about the movement and I tried to do that in the most moving way.”
Watch now "Nasty Woman," the latest by CHEL, available in streaming on all major digital platforms. You can find your favorite one via ---
To know more about CHEL and her music, find and follow CHEL all over the web by checking the links below:
<\span>You can also discover "Nasty Woman" and CHEL music by listening to our playlist NOVA ERA, a weekly rotation featuring an eclectic selection of artists covered by Nova MUSIC blog.
<\span>- .: Nova MUSIC blog // November 2020