Michigan (ⁱ/ˈmɪʃɨɡən/) is a state located in the Great Lakes region of the Midwestern United States. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake". Michigan is the 8th most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area. Its capital is Lansing, and the largest city is Detroit. Michigan was admitted into the Union on January 26, 1837 as the 26th state.

Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair. Michigan is one of the leading U.S. states for recreational boating. The state has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. A person in the state is never more than six miles (9.7 km) from a natural water source or more than 85 miles (137 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline. It is the largest state by total area east of the Mississippi River.

Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is often noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula (often referred to as "the U.P.") is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile (8 km) channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The two peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge. The Upper Peninsula is economically important due to its status as a tourist destination. There is also a variety of natural resources to be found there, including a sizable amount of iron ore.

Kierra "Kiki" Sheard (born Kierra Valencia Sheard) is an American gospel recording artist. She is the daughter of gospel singer Karen Clark Sheard (member of gospel singing group The Clark Sisters) and the granddaughter of gospel choral director Mattie Moss Clark.

Born in Detroit, Michigan and raised in the suburb of West Bloomfield, Sheard spent her formative years surrounded by the influences of her family, their faith, and their music. At age 6, she began singing in the choir at Greater Emmanuel Institutional Church of God in Christ, pastored by her father Bishop J. Drew Sheard. Even at a young age, Sheard had a preternatural grip on the signature "Clark sound" pioneered by her mother and aunts, executing high and fast melismas, riffs, runs, and deep, throaty growls sometimes referred to as "squalls" (the latter is prominently displayed on "Done Did It", a traditional gospel leaning track from her album I Owe You).^{[citation needed]}

Sheard made her professional stage debut at the age of 10 performing on two tracks on her mother's debut solo album Finally Karen in 1997. One of those songs was "The Will Of God", penned by Evangelist Richard "Mr. Clean" White as the standout closing track. The song won a Stellar Award for Best Children's Performance the following year. In the years following, she honed and matured her skills as a performer and vocalist. Kierra started singing as a background vocalist for her mother, her aunt Dorinda Clark-Cole, and The Clark Sisters. In 2002, Kierra was featured on her aunt Dorinda's self-titled debut album. The following year, she performed two tracks again on her mothers' third album, The Heavens Are Telling. On The Heavens Are Telling, she was featured with her mother on a popular cover of Jill Scott's He Loves Me (Lyzel In E Flat). In 2003, EMI Gospel won a bidding war between several record companies to sign Kierra to her first recording contract.