Pose star Michaela Jaé has 'Something to Say' as she makes her music debut
Ahead of the series finale of her hit LGBTQ drama series Pose, actress Mj Rodriguez is stepping into the music scene.
Rodriguez, who has officially launched her next career venture as a recording artist as Michaela Jaé, dropped her first single, "Something to Say," on Friday.
She wrote the song, an uplifting anthem about embracing one's truth and raising one's voice, with PWP, which is comprised of the Verdine White of Earth, Wind, and Fire, and multi-Grammy-winning Neal Pogue and John Paris. "Something to Say" even has an Earth, Wind, and Fire sound to it.
"Love, you know it's really got a hold on me. And I just want to figure this out," Rodriguez sings. "We don't got to do this alone if we try to come together as equals starting over today. I got something to say."
Rodriguez previously expressed her desire to embark on a music career during an interview for Entertainment Weekly's LGBTQ Pride Month cover.
"I think theater is definitely on the table for me but way down the line when I'm a bit older," the star of productions like Rent and Little Shop of Horrors said. "I think right now I'm still young and I have so much to offer to the acting realm, to the film industry, and the music industry... Music has been my passion for years, and I want that to happen."
Pose, Rodriguez acknowledges, has kept her "vocals busy." She notably sang a version of "Home" from The Wiz with costar Billy Porter during season 1 and returned for musical moments throughout the remainder of the show.
"I always say this: I feel like [Pose executive producer] Ryan Murphy, though he's not invested in the music itself, he's definitely very invested in musical theater," Rodriguez said. "But in the music of it all, he still feels like this Clive Davis to my Whitney Houston." (As it happens, Rodriguez had a stellar Whitney Houston lip-sync moment in Pose season 2.) "He feels like this person who saw me, sought me out, and grew me, and still does. I'm really thankful for the relationship that I have with him. You don't get that with a lot of directors, and I'm blessed."
Listen to "Something to Say" above.
Related content: