Harlem, NY, native Kelis has been one of the queens of "alternative" R&B in recent years. Graduating in 1997 from "Fame"'d La Guardia High School, and a violin player for 14 years, she signed in her senior year a production deal with the then-under-the-radar production team of The Neptunes, who produced all of her debut album, 1999's "Kaleidoscope" on Virgin. The disc was buoyed by the infectious "Caught Out There", which had a Hype Williams-directed clip. Her sophomore release, "Wanderland" (2001), wasn't as fortunate and did not get released in the U.S., which led to tensions with Virgin; she was later dropped because of lackluster performance. She did find solace in a romance with rap kingpin Nas; the couple is currently married. In late 2003, her career started going full throttle with the buzz surrounding her third CD, "Tasty", released in the tail end of '03. The 'Tunes do some production but not all of it; other producers include Dallas Austin, Raphael Saadiq (of Tony! Toni! Tone! fame) and Andre 3000 of OutKast. Kelis is no stranger to clubland. Her first major remix project was "Get Along With You" from "Kaleidoscope", remixed by David Morales and Bump 'N' Flex. Other notable club singles: "Good Stuff" remixed by Junior Vasquez; "Young Fresh 'n New" remixed by Timo Maas (which led to the two's subsequent collaboration, "Help Me"); and "Milkshake" nominated for a 2004 Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance, peaking at #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Chart in December 2003 with remixes by X-Press 2, DJ Zinc, and Freq Nasty.
After a short spell working as a model, 5'10" Kelis began appearing on songs by Neptunes produced rappers such as 'Got Your Money' by the late rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard. Soon afterwards, she released her debut album, Kaleidoscope in 1999 of which the first single was 'Caught Out There,' a song based on the time she caught her boyfriend cheating on her, and she beat him. The video feautures Kelis leading a pack of angry women down the street screaming 'I hate you so much right now!'. The album was released in USA, Europe and Asia, but did not find much audience in the USA. Not a great success, it only sold 249,000 copies to date.
After finding her largest audience in Europe, Kelis released her second album titled Wanderland (2001) in Europe only, which like her first album did not fare well. It only sold 80,000 copies and was entirely produced by The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo) again, similarly to her debut. Only one single was released 'Young Fresh N New'.
In 2003 Kelis finally found fame in her country with the single 'Milkshake,' which was a massive success in Europe, Asia and USA, and she began dating rapper Nas (born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones). The single was from the album 'Tasty' which did not feature the Neptunes as heavily as her previous albums. Singles included the popular Dallas Austin produced 'Trick Me' and 'Millionaire', a collaboration with OutKast's Andre 3000. 'In Public's duet with Nas was the fourth single from the album, becoming a top twenty hit in the U.K. without a video.
In 2006, Kelis presented a new album to her fans, entitled Kelis Was Here, which was originally to be called 'The Puppeteer' which was released on 22 August but was due Fall 2005. No Neptunes tracks appeared on this album, but Kelis used other producers such as Max Martin, will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) and Raphael Saadiq. Singles are the huge 'Bossy', 'Blindfold Me', and 'Lil Star'. Kelis wrote more of the material on this album than she did for Tasty, and carries off the sci-fi, electronica sounds so often considered Neptunes material without them. This is most evident on the brilliant 'Trilogy'. Kelis has said she wants to make her mark with this album, as it will be the last 'album like this' she will make.
In October 2007, Kelis was dumped by Jive Records, for poor sales of Kelis Was Here but a new album is in the pipeline. The Hits - a greatest hits collection - was released in March 2008, including tracks where she was a featured artist, eg, Got Your Money by Ol' Dirty Bastard , N.E.R.D's Truth or Dare, and Richard X's Finest Dreams.
Kelis is currently signed to Interscope records and is working on a new album entitled Flesh Tone, the first singlefrom which is the David Guetta-produced Acapella
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From Wikipedia:Kelis Jones (née Rogers; born August 21, 1979), ( /k??li?s/), is an American R&B singer-songwriter. She is a BRIT Award winner and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. Her biggest hit is "Milkshake," which became well-known in Western popular culture.