Kelis
Kelis | |
|---|---|
| File:Kelis2.jpg | |
| Background information | |
| Years active | 1999-present |
Kelis (born Kelis Rogers in the Harlem, New York on August 21, 1980) is an American singer and songwriter who has seen moderate success in the United States and major success overseas. She is currently married to hip-hop star Nas.
Biography
Her father, Kenneth, was a jazz musician and a Pentecostal minister; her mother, Eveliss, was a fashion designer. "Kelis" is a combination of her African American father's and Chinese/Puerto Rican mother's names. Kelis' name is pronounced 'Kuh-Leese'.
As a child, she sang in church choirs and played violin, piano, and saxophone while attending a private school. Kelis left home at age thirteen, but continued her education and at age 16 Kelis went to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts [1] where she formed the R&B trio BLU (Black Ladies United). After graduation, she formed a band with the Neptunes and, with their support, landed herself a record deal.
She has since worked with a variety of musicians including Gravediggaz, Busta Rhymes, Foxy Brown, Lil Kim, OutKast, P. Diddy, Usher, Moby, Richard X, Timo Maas, Björk, No Doubt and Enrique Iglesias. Her most notable duets were popular singles and music videos, even in America, during 1999 and the early 2000s decade. These include the following: "Got Your Money" with the late Ol' Dirty Bastard, "What It Is" with Busta Rhymes, and "Candy" with Foxy Brown.
Kaleidoscope
Her debut album, Kaleidoscope, was, overall, not an American success selling 290,000 copies; though its debut single, "Caught Out There", was a urban radio success peaking at #9 on the Billboard Hot R&B and becoming a MTV/BET video hit in America. The entire album really took off in Europe, where all three singles, "Caught Out There", "Good Stuff", and "Get Along With You" were sizable hits. Kelis' colorful style in both clothing and hair received considerable attention.
"Caught Out There" managed to get Kelis a #52 chart entry in the UK on imports [2] and it was therefore decided to release a single which peaked at #4. "Good Stuff" was also a modest hit securing a number #19 position in the UK charts. In addition, according to BPI a British music charts organization Kaleidoscope went gold selling over 100,000 copies in the UK and Kelis won the Brit Award for Best International Newcomer.
Kaleidoscope's success was largely outside the United States, because Kelis' style of music was not limited to the traditional urban market. American radio was reluctant to accept Kelis since her music didn't feat neatly into any particular genre. Kelis' biggest market became Europe, where a combination of rap, R&B intermixed with rock and roll and other genres was more readily accepted. Also, Australia and Asia turned out to be easier markets for Kelis.
Wanderland
The album, Wanderland, was released two years later exclusively in Europe and Asia, after its lead single, "Young Fresh 'N' New", failed to catch on in America; the video for "Young Fresh 'N New" barely registered on American MTV or VH1, but got pretty heavy play on MTV2. According to Kelis, her and then American record company Virgin did not like the Wanderland album. The record executives at Virgin felt the album material didn't have a strong enough singles. Unlike her debut, "Wanderland" sales were mediocre selling just under 80,000 copies in the United Kingdom. [3]
Kelis, who had moved to Europe during her successful period there, starting the touring with U2 on their European tour and the United States with Moby during his Area One Tour. In America she met and fell in love with rapper Nas and the couple were married on January 8, 2005.
Tasty
Kelis finally found mainstream success in America in 2003, with her #1 urban, #3 Hot 100 song, "Milkshake"; this helped to propel her album Tasty to the top of the charts and reach gold status selling over 540,000 copies in the U.S in only 2 months.
The single and album immediately found success in Europe. According to the BPI a British music charts organization Kelis third album Tasty went platinum in the United Kingdom in October 2004 selling over 300,000 copies. The hit single Milkshake went silver in the the UK selling over 200,000 units. Milkshake was one of the top 10 best selling singles in UK in the year 2004. The album's second single, "Trick Me", once again proved successful at radio and video channels in Europe and went to the top 10 in many European countries during mid-2004, however the song did not enjoy success in America, where its music video was not released. In addition, Kelis success grew in Australia. The album Tasty went gold in Australia selling over 35,000 copies. "Milkshake" went platinum in Australia selling over 70,000 copies. The second single "Trick Me" was important because the Neptunes were, for once, not involved in its' production. Instead, Dallas Austin co-wrote and produced this track. Indeed, although the Neptunes contributed a number of tracks to the album, Kelis began collaborating with other producers such as Austin, Andre 3000, Rockwilder and Raphael Saadiq producing an altogether more eclectic sound. Trick Me also went platinum in Australia selling over 70,000 units. In New Zealand the album Tasty went Gold selling over 7000 copies. [4]
"Not In Love", a Kelis & Enrique Iglesias' duet from Iglesias' album 7, was also released as a single in 2004 but failed to catch on in America outside of the club charts. Kelis followed her success of "Millionaire" with the Rockwilder produced track, "In Public" featuring husband, Nas. The track was a UK only release, taking it to #17 with only airplay spins and no video for the track.
With the success of Tasty, Kelis went on tour as the opening act for Britney Spears' Onyx Hotel Tour in 2004.
Kelis Was Here
Kelis' lastest single is "Bossy" (featuring Too $hort). It is acheiving frequent airplay on urban radio and is the lead single from her upcoming album Kelis Was Here (originally due to be called The Puppeteer).
Kelis Was Here is due to be released on June 13 2006 and production credits include Scott Storch, Raphael Saadiq, will.i.am, Dallas Austin, Swizz Beatz, Bangladesh, and Timbaland. A second single may be either "Puppeteer" or "Insyde Out".
Currently, In addition to working on the upcoming album, Kelis is writing a cookbook and designing her own line of fashion accessories. [5]
Discography
Albums
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US | |||
| 1999 | Kaleidoscope | #46 | #144 |
|
| 2001 | Wanderland | - | - |
|
| 2003 | Tasty | #11 | #27 | |
| 2006 | Kelis Was Here | TBC | TBC |
|
Singles & Music Videos
Solo Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | US Hot 100 | |||
| 1999 2000 [UK] |
"Caught Out There" | #4 #52 [Import] |
#54 | Kaleidoscope |
| 1999 2000 [UK] |
"Good Stuff" (featuring Terrar) |
#19 | - | Kaleidoscope |
| 1999 | "Get Along With You" | #51 | - | Kaleidoscope |
| 2001 | "Young, Fresh N' New" | #32 | - | Wanderland |
| 2003 2004 [UK] |
"Milkshake" [11] | #2 | #3 | Tasty |
| 2004 | "Trick Me" | #2 | - | Tasty |
| 2004 | "Millionaire" (featuring Andre 3000 of OutKast) |
#3 | - | Tasty |
| 2005 | "In Public" (featuring Nas) [13] |
#17 | - | Tasty |
| 2006 | "Bossy" (featuring Too $hort) |
TBC | TBC | Kelis Was Here |
Featured Roles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 2000 [UK] |
"Got Your Money" (Ol' Dirty Bastard featuring Kelis) |
#11 UK | N***a Please |
| 2000 | "Honey" [Remix] (Moby featuring Kelis) [13] |
#17 UK | Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad / Honey [Remix] [CD Single] (Double 'A' Side) |
| 2000 | "Supa Lova" (Guru's Jazzmatazz featuring Kelis) |
- | Streetsoul |
| 2000 | "How Many Licks" [Remix] (Lil' Kim featuring N.E.R.D. & Kelis) [13] |
- | How Many Licks [CD Single] |
| 2001 | "Cross The Border" (Philly's Most Wanted featuring Kelis) |
- | Get Down Or Lay Down |
| 2001 | "What It Is" (Busta Rhymes featuring Kelis) |
- | Genesis |
| 2001 | "Candy" (Foxy Brown featuring Kelis) [11] |
- | Broken Silence |
| 2002 | "When The Last Time" (Clipse featuring Kelis) |
- | Lord Willin' |
| 2002 | "Help Me" (Timo Maas featuring Kelis) |
#65 UK | Loud |
| 2002 | "Take You Home" (Angie Martinez featuring Kelis) |
#85 US | Animal House |
| 2003 | "How You Want That" (Loon featuring Kelis) |
#88 US | Loon |
| 2003 | "Let's Get Ill" (P. Diddy featuring Kelis) [13] |
#25 UK | - |
| 2003 | "Make This Run" (Royce Da 5'9" featuring Pharrell Williams & Kelis) [13] |
- | Build & Destroy: The Lost Sessions Part 1 |
| 2003 | "Finest Dreams" (Richard X featuring Kelis) |
#8 UK | Richard X Presents His X-Factor Vol. 1 |
| 2004 | "Not In Love" (Enrique Iglesias featuring Kelis) |
#5 UK | 7 |
| 2004 | "Oceania" [Remix] (Björk featuring Kelis) |
- | Oceania [CD Single] |
Other Songs & Collaborations
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Cocaine Business (Hysteria)" (Noreaga featuring Kelis) |
Melvin Flynt - Da Hustler |
| 2001 | "Dandelion" (LFO featuring Kelis) |
Life Is Good |
| 2001 | "Radikal" (Philly's Most Wanted featuring Kelis) |
Get Down Or Lay Down |
| 2001 | "I Don't Care Anymore" | Urban Renewal |
| 2001 | "This Must Be Love" (Dane Bowers featuring Kelis) |
Urban Renewal |
| 2001 | "I'm Leavin'" (Outsidaz featuring Rah Digga & Kelis) [12] |
Bricks |
| 2002 | "Truth or Dare" (N.E.R.D featuring Kelis) |
In Search of... |
| 2002 | "Popular Thug" (The Neptunes featuring Kelis & Nas) [13] |
The Neptunes Presents... Clones |
| 2002 | "So Be It" | Red Hot + Riot |
| 2002 | "Hey Nas" (Nas featuring Kelis & Claudette Ortiz from City High) |
God's Son |
| 2003 | "Dracula's Wedding" (OutKast featuring Kelis) |
The Speakerboxxx/Love Below |
| 2004 | "American Way" (Nas featuring Kelis) |
Street's Disciple |
| 2005 | "Brass In Pocket" | Just Like Heaven [Soundtrack] |
Notes
- ^ Kelis sings on all of the above singles and appears in all music videos for those that have them, other than "Oceania" and "Millionaire". She also makes cameo appearances in the following Neptunes-related music videos, despite not actually singing on the track:
- "The Funeral" (Clipse) (1999)
- "Lap Dance" (N.E.R.D. featuring Lee Harvey & Vita) (2001)
- ^ Two different videos were filmed for "Milkshake". The first was never released. Once the song started to catch on, a sexier video for the song was filmed instead; this is the one that was finally released, but the first one remains viewable on Kelis' website.
- ^ No music video exists for song/version of song.
- ^ Kelis only features on the album version of the song. Melanie Blatt does her parts on European single release and she also appeared on the music video.
See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans
- The Neptunes
- Nas
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
- List of artists who reached number one in Ireland
References
- ^ IMDB Biography (Accessed Dec 31, 2005)
- ^ UK pop charts (Accessed Dec 31, 2005)
- ^ Eye Weekly February 19, 2004 (Accessed Jan 1, 2006)
- ^ Moderator at ukmix (Accessed Jan 1, 2006)
- ^ Kelis' official UK site (Accessed Dec 31, 2005)