Midori (actress)

Midori
Midori in 2006
Other nameMichele Watley
Occupations
  • Singer
  • dancer
  • model
  • actress
Years active1989–present
Known forFirst African-American woman to win an AVN Award
RelativesJody Watley (sister)
Websitewww.midorimusic.net

Michele Watley, known professionally as Midori,[1][2][3] is an American singer, dancer, model, actress and former pornographic film actress. She was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Urban X Hall of Fame in 2023.[4][5] She was named one of the top 10 "hottest black porn stars" of all time by Complex.[6] The Independent named her "the queen of the black hardcore market".[7]

Early life

Watley has a sister, R&B singer Jody Watley,[8][6][2] and a brother. Her grandfather and father were ministers.[9][10]

As a young adult, Watley lived in England for nine months and in 1986, she attended dance school in France.[9]

Career

Whatley appeared briefly in the 1988 movie Coming to America.[3] After the movie was released she changed her stage name to Midori.[4] She worked as an exotic dancer for four years[9] and started performing in hardcore pornography. Watley's rationale for entering the adult film industry was to increase the representation of women of color in the industry, which has historically been white.[10]

In the 1990s, Watley began directing pornographic films.[11] She initially tried to avoid appearing in stereotypical Black themed films, and early in her career was mostly featured in interracial scenes in white-produced films. Watley eventually started working with Black male performers because she "didn't want to have Black guys thinking I didn't do them too".[12] She became a spokesperson for the Free Speech Coalition.[10] She was co-featured, as Michele, in the 1997 stripper documentary The Unveiling, alongside Dixie Evans and Eldad Sahar.[13][14][15][16] Variety described Watley as "a petite African-American single mom who does an athletic pole-climbing act".[15] The Los Angeles Times described Watley as being "loaded with personality, and you hope that she fulfills her dream of moving into mainstream entertainment as a singer or actress".[13]

In 1997, she recorded a duet with Oran "Juice" Jones at Tommy Boy Records[2] and performed on tour with Puff Daddy and Lil' Kim.[17] The next year, Spike Lee offered Watley a role in He Got Game - as a prostitute - a role she declined because she did not want to play a sex worker.[10] Watley was featured in the British documentary Glamour Girlz on Channel 4, which documents Black women in the adult film industry. Watley was featured in the show alongside Charmaine Sinclair, who had relocated to Los Angeles from London to further her career, and porn legend Ron Jeremy. In the series, Watley helps Sinclair expand her career into the adult film industry. Watley also discusses her desire to move into music, and is seen meeting by phone with Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew to discuss prospects.[18][19]

In 1999, she had one track entitled 5-10-15-20, which she wrote on the Porn to Rock compilation, which was released on Tommy Boy Records.[4][10] The single features Oran "Juice" Jones. In an interview with the National Post, Watley said that she was pursuing a career in hip hop by using her fame as a porn star. Then National Post music critic Finbarr O'Reilly called Watley's single on the compilation "one of the better tracks".[10] To support the compilation, Watley toured with fellow porn performers Madison Stone, Johnny Toxic, and Nina Whett, including performing at South by Southwest.[20] That same year, Kid Rock produced the track F.M.A. for the Deep Porn compilation with Midori on vocals. The New York Daily News described the single as "moaning unprintable pillow talk over a backdrop of distorted guitars and hip-hop drums".[21][22] She also appeared on the cover of the Bad Meets Evil's single "Nuttin' to Do".[4][23] Watley has a second track, "Zap", produced by Wide.[24] Watley credits Madonna and Lil' Kim as opening the door for sex positive performers, and sex workers, to perform music in mainstream entertainment.[10][25]

Watley appeared on the cover of Andrew Dice Clay's album Face Down, Ass Up in 2000. She also released her first album, the dance LP Midori (AKA) Michele Watley.[4] In 2001, she released the rap album Miss Judged, which featured rapper AMG.[4] In 2001, she appeared in the video for Coo Coo Cal's "My Projects."[4] She starred in the Polish porn Big Sister and toured Poland.[4] Watley appeared as singer and MC on rapper Warrior's single "Who's Hustlin' Who" in 2003. Watley was described as "decent but uninteresting" on the single by Rap Reviews.[26]

Personal life

In a 1997 interview with Black Video Illustrated, Watley said she was straight;[9] however, in the 1998, documentary The Unveiling, Watley identified as bisexual.[15] She is monogamous.[10] In 1999, Watley was in a relationship with Kid Rock.[3][27][28] The relationship ended after three months, with both Rock and Watley citing Rock's busy schedule as the reason for the break up.[8] Watley discovered she was pregnant after her relationship with Rock ended, and she decided not to have the baby.[3]

Watley has a daughter.[10]

Watley does not like watching pornography. It took considerable time for her family to accept that she was an adult film entertainer. She took her mother with her to an adult film award ceremony in an attempt to convince her mother that the adult film industry "also holds formal events where people dress up in black ties and fancy dresses".[10]

Awards and nominations

Year Ceremony Result Category Film
1998 AVN Award Nominated Best New Starlet[29] N/a
NightMoves Award Won Best Actress (Editor's Choice)[30]
1999 AVN Award Nominated Female Performer of the Year[31]
2001 Won Best Supporting Actress - Video[32] American Booty
Nominated Best Couples Sex Scene - Video (with Dillon Day)[33] West Side
XRCO Award Actress (Single Performance)[34]
2009 AVN Award Won Hall of Fame[4][35] N/a
2023 Urban X Award Hall of Fame[36]

Discography

Albums

  • Midori (AKA) Michele Watley (2000)[4]
  • Miss Judged (2001)[4]

Singles

  • "Who's Hustlin' Who", Warrior featuring Midori (2003)[26]

Album appearances

  • 2002: Perfect Weapon, Warrior, "Who's Hustlin' Who" feat. Midori[26]
  • 2000: Deep Porn, Various Artists, "F.M.A." - Kid Rock featuring Midori,[22] "Zap" - Wide featuring Midori
  • 1999: Porn to Rock, Various Artists, "5,10,15,20" - Midori featuring Oran "Juice" Jones[4]
  • 1997: Player's Call, Oran "Juice" Jones, "Let's Stay Together" (featuring Midori)[2]

Cover girl

Music video appearances

Further reading

  • Miller-Young, Mireille (2014). A Taste for Brown Sugar: Black Women in Pornography. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-7591-3

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Danyel (2023). Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop. New York: Roc Lit 101; One World. p. 162. ISBN 978-0-593-13273-9 – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "[Interview] Jody Watley: Pop's Fashionista Godmother". Ebony. April 16, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Mitchell, Ben (October 2005). "Rock's Most Embarrassing Siblings". Blender. No. 41. p. 58. ISSN 1534-0554.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Gołębiewski, Piotr 'Pi' (December 3, 2011). "Weekendowa Bezsensja: Muzyka 18+, czyli muzyka a branża porno (3)". Esensja (in Polish). Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  5. ↑ 2009 AVN Award-Winners Announced, by David Sullivan January 11, 2009, AVN
  6. 1 2 Davis, Michael (August 1, 2011). "The Top 50 Hottest Black Porn Stars Of All Time". Complex. Archived from the original on December 13, 2022.
  7. ↑ Judah, Hettie (November 28, 1998). "Interview: Charmaine Sinclair - All glammed out and nowhere to go". The Independent. Archived from the original on June 22, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  8. 1 2 Jenkins, Sacha (October 1999). "Pimpin' Ain't Easy". Spin. Vol. 15, no. 10. p. 96. ISSN 0886-3032 – via Google Books.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Makin' It With Midori". Black Video Illustrated (10). 1997.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 O'Reilly, Finbarr (June 10, 1999). "She sings, too". National Post. ISSN 1486-8008. Retrieved January 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Watley's Porn-Again Sister". New York Daily News. February 20, 1997. Retrieved January 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Suggs, Donald (October 21, 1997). "Hard Corps: A New Generation of People of Color Penetrates Porn's Mainstream". The Village Voice. p. 40. ISSN 0042-6180. ProQuest 232193414. Performers who can't– or won't– cultivate the requisite image end up in a rut of 'amateur' or low-budget race productions, where they earn as little as $200 a film. 'I didn't want to do any Soul Train booty movies,' says 29-year-old Midori, aXa the 'Black Barbie Doll', explaining why she initially didn't pursue Black porn films. 'Those aren't the ones getting adult awards or attention from the mainstream media,' says Midori, who received the Best Newcomer Award at the Atlantic City ceremony. Like most successful women of color in the industry, Midori started by doing interracial scenes in white-produced films. But in a sudden burst of racial consciousness, she went into Black porn. 'I didn't want to have Black guys thinking I didn't do them too,' she explains.
  13. 1 2 Thomas, Kevin (March 27, 1997). "'The Unveiling': Sure-Fire Subject Has Its Charms". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 2165-1736. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  14. ↑ McCluskey, Audrey Thomas (2007). Frame by Frame III: A Filmography of the African Diasporan Image, 1994-2004. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 764. ISBN 978-0-253-34829-6 – via Google Books.
  15. 1 2 3 Harvey, Dennis (June 29, 1998). "The Unveiling". Variety. Archived from the original on October 1, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Documentary Days: The Unveiling". LA Weekly. September 25, 1997. p. 57. Retrieved January 15, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Puff Daddy leads diverse evening". Lansing State Journal. November 9, 1997. Retrieved January 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Bachelor bliss in drumlin country". The Irish Times. December 5, 1998. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Glamour Girlz". The Guide. The Guardian. November 28, 1998. p. 93. Retrieved January 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Whyte, Chris (March 24, 1999). "Savor the sweet sounds of smut". The Daily Titan. California State University, Fullerton. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  21. ↑ Berry, Jahna (August 18, 2000). "Wyclef Jean Raps With The Rock On Second Solo Album". MTV News. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  22. 1 2 Guzman, Isaac (August 13, 2000). "Rude, Crude and Proud of It: Why a New Crop of Rock Stars Is Sleazing It Up". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Released This Week". More2go. Green Bay Press-Gazette. July 20, 2000. Retrieved January 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ Hip-Hop Meets Porn! By Mike Winslow 2000-08-01, AllHipHop
  25. ↑ Werde, William (July 1999). "Porn in the USA". CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 71. p. 79. ISSN 1074-6978 – via Google Books.
  26. 1 2 3 Knoxx, A. (March 12, 2003). "Warrior :: The Perfect Weapon". Rap Reviews. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
  27. ↑ Norris, Chris (December 2001). "Honky Tonk Man". Spin. Vol. 17, no. 12. p. 102. ISSN 0886-3032 – via Google Books.
  28. ↑ Daycart, Renee (October 2000). "Fellatio Angler Story". Spin. Vol. 16, no. 10. p. 124. ISSN 0886-3032 – via Google Books.
  29. ↑ Wallace, David Foster (2007). Consider the Lobster. Back Bay Books. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-316-01332-1.
  30. ↑ "Past Winner History". NightMoves. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Choices". 1999 AVN Awards Show Program. Van Nuys, CA: AVN Publications, Inc. January 9, 1999.
  32. ↑ Nelson, Steve (January 9, 2001). "The AVN Awards Show a Night to Remember". Adult Industry News. Archived from the original on March 8, 2003. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  33. ↑ "2001 AVN Awards Nominations List". Archived from the original on March 9, 2001. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  34. ↑ "XRCO Award Nominations". March 19, 2001. Archived from the original on January 4, 2002. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  35. ↑ Sullivan, David (January 11, 2009). "2009 AVN Award-Winners Announced". AVN. Archived from the original on May 24, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
  36. ↑ Warren, Peter (March 1, 2023). "Urban X Awards Announces 2023 Hall of Fame Inductees". AVN.


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