Kelis

1979–

Vocalist

Kelis enjoyed a rush of popularity with the success of her 2003 hit "Milkshake." A songwriter who asserted control over her career, Kelis had been recording her material—featuring a strong female perspective—since 1999. Despite the pop phenomenon of "Milkshake," Kelis remained a singular artist and did not sacrifice her artistic vision to churn out music. Yet even with gaps between releases, Kelis could grab listeners' attention, and she has attracted the services of some of the top producers in urban contemporary music. Kelis's 2006 album, Kelis Was Here, and its leadoff single, "Bossy," suggested that she had more brash and confident music on the way.

Born Kelis (kuh-LEESE) Rogers in New York on August 21, 1979, the singer grew up as the youngest of four sisters in the Harlem neighborhood on Manhattan Island. Her three sisters all became physicians. Her African-American father, Kenneth G. Rogers, was a veteran jazz musician; her mother Eveliss, who is of Puerto Rican and Chinese background, worked in the fashion industry. Kelis's parents were supportive of the interest in music she showed as early as age two. She began studying the violin, continuing for 14 years, and soon she was singing in the choir of the family's Pentecostal church, where her father sometimes preached. Eveliss Rogers, who hand-made unique, colorful outfits for her daughters, also influenced Kelis, who would be known for daring, arresting outfits and hair styles.

Attended "Fame" High School

When she was 14, Kelis was admitted to New York's Fiorello LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts—a prestigious magnet school that served as the model for the institution depicted in the movie Fame. She learned to play the saxophone and won a spot in the Girls Choir of Harlem. R&B and hip-hop talent spotters were already paying attention to Kelis while she was still in high school, especially after she and two friends formed a group called BLU (Black Ladies United). The creative teenager was restless at home, however, and when she was 16 she moved out and got her own apartment.

Faced with the necessity of making a living, Kelis took a variety of jobs and had little time to think about music. After she graduated from high school in 1997, how-ever, she landed a backup vocal slot on a single called "Fairytalz" released by former Wu Tang Clan member RZA (under the name Gravediggaz). Her name spread among New York industry people, and she began working with the team of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, known as the Neptunes. Kelis was signed to the Virgin label in 1998.

Kelis's debut album, Kaleidoscope, showing the singer with orange hair and covered in body paints, appeared in 1999 and took off with the release of the single "Caught Out There." The song depicted a woman who is angry after discovering her boyfriend's infidelity. "I hate you so much right now!" Kelis screams over a catchy Neptunes beat. The song was accompanied by a video in which Kelis beats up a man, threatens to cut off him off from life support in the emergency room of a hospital, and then leads a group of women in bathrobes in a nocturnal protest march as they intone the song's "I hate you" chorus. Directed by video creator Hype Williams, the video sprang from a concept envisioned by Kelis.

Found British Fan Base

Kelis denied that she personally was angry at men as a group or that she adhered to a strong feminist ideology, telling Julia Chaplin of Interview that "Everyone wants to kick a guy's ass and land 'em in the hospital once in a while." Indeed, other singles from Kaleidoscope that landed on the music charts had different themes, and Kelis's touring show included a variety of music that ranged from Lionel Richie's classic ballad "Hello" to Nirvana's alternative rock anthem "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Kelis toured not only in the United States but also in Britain, where she developed a strong following.

In 2001 Kelis's career hit a roadblock when the Virgin label refused to release her sophomore album, Wanderland, in the United States, blaming poor overseas sales. Noted Michael Endelman of Entertainment Weekly: "Virgin's trepidation is understandable; the album has an uneven and downbeat vibe—likely influenced by Kelis' rumored romance with Pharrell Williams, which was reportedly falling apart during the recording sessions." Despite a busy schedule of guest appearances on recordings and the tours of other artists—she had opening slots for the legendary rock band U2 and biracial rocker Lenny Kravitz—Kelis's career was in danger in the fast-moving world of urban music, where a lag of a few years might cause an artist to be nearly forgotten.

Things turned around for Kelis on the personal front in 2002, when she met rapper Nas (Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones) at a party thrown by hip-hop kingpin Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. "He's the love of my life," Kelis told Matt Diehl of Interview. "We met, and I was just like, 'Hallelujah!' It was that sort of divine cliché moment: he shook my hand, and we've been together ever since." The two married in Atlanta in January of 2005 and made plans to record an album of old-school R&B together.

Paid for Own Studio Time

Kelis parted ways with Virgin and took advantage of her new creative freedom, booking studio time at her own expense to work on new material. A roster of A-list producers, including Andre 3000 of OutKast, Dallas Austin, and Raphael Saadiq, offered or volunteered their services. By the time she signed with the Arista label, Kelis had most of the album that would become Tasty finished. "I spent all this time with no one looking over my shoulder, no budget, no A&R nothing," she told Diehl. "It ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me." Asked by Associated Press reporter Colleen Long (as the interview appeared in the Ottawa Citizen) how she made contact with such a high-powered group of producers, Kelis answered, "It's like high school. Everyone knows everyone in music, people gossip all the time and everyone is in your business. It's like high school—with better outfits and longer days."

At a Glance …

Born Kelis Rogers August 21, 1979, in New York, NY; daughter of Kenneth G. (a jazz musician) and Eveliss (a fashion designer) Rogers; married Nas (Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, a rapper), 2005. Education: Fiorello LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts, 1997. Religion: Pentecostal.

Career: Singer and songwriter, 1997–.

Awards: Grammy award nomination, Best Urban/Alternative Performance, 2003, for "Milkshake".

Addresses: Label—Jive/Zomba Recordings, 137 W. 25th St., New York, NY 10001. Web—www.kelison-line.com.

The most commercially impressive result of Kelis's leisurely approach was "Milkshake." Composed and produced by the Neptunes (along with four other tracks on Tasty), it drew its appeal partly from the ambiguity of its lyrics. "A milkshake is the thing that makes women feel special," Kelis explained to Long. "It's what gives us our confidence and makes us exciting." But another interpretation could be gathered from Kelis's risqué performance of the song in concerts. Whatever the term's meaning, the song fit Kelis's assertive personality. The song reached the top five on several Billboard charts in 2004, and the Tasty album achieved gold status (for sales of 500,000 copies) in just two months in the United States. The album was also a major worldwide success.

Opening for Britney Spears on Spears's Onyx Hotel tour of 2004, Kelis once again took her time coming up with new material. The early months of her marriage to Nas gave her a well-deserved break at the beginning of 2005, and she began working on writing a cookbook and creating a fashion line. The new album, at first called The Puppeteer and then Kelis Was Here, was slated for release on the Jive label in June of 2006, but was pushed back to July and then August. A variety of producers, including Saadiq, Cee-Lo, and Scott Storch, again made contributions.

Despite the delay, Kelis, now sporting a new short haircut, was on the radio and in the news in July of 2006 with a rising single, "Bossy" (featuring rapper Too Short), and a tour that took her across the European continent. Her description of the single summed up her approach to her career. As she told Sia Michel of New York: "For me, saying 'I'm bossy' is a cute, tongue-in-cheek way of saying that I'm in control of my life." "She's a boss, no doubt, but I wouldn't say she's mean or rude," Kelis's colleague MC Too $hort told Michel. "Original is the word." And with the release of Kelis Was Here, it seemed that Kelis had just begun to introduce the world to her originality.

Selected works

Albums

Kaleidoscope, Virgin, 1999.
Wanderland, Virgin, 2001.
Tasty, Arista, 2003.
Kelis Was Here, Jive, 2006.

Sources

Books

Contemporary Musicians, volume 48, Gale, 2004.

Periodicals

Entertainment Weekly, December 19, 2003, p. 40.

Essence, July 2006, p. 69.

Evening Standard (London, England), August 27, 2004, p. 16.

In Style, April 2006, p. 354.

Interview, December 1999, p. 44; July 2004, p. 64.

Jet, January 31, 2005, p. 32.

Liverpool Echo (England), August 6, 2004, p. 1.

New York, August 28, 2006, p. 121.

Ottawa Citizen, January 3, 2004, p. I9.

On-line

"Kelis," All Music Guide, www.allmusic.com (July 24, 2006).