Kelis
Template:Infobox musical artist 2
Kelis Rogers Jones ([IPA: keliis], born August 21, 1979)[1] is an American singer and songwriter. She is currently married to hip-hop star Nas.
Biography
Kelis Rogers was born in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. Her father, Kenneth, was a black jazz musician and a Pentecostal minister; her mother, Eveliss, was a fashion designer, who inspired her to pursue her singing career. "Kelis" is a combination of her father's and mother's names. Kelis' name is pronounced 'Kuh-Leese'. Kelis' father is African-American and her mother is of Puerto Rican and Chinese descent.
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, 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, Enrique Iglesias, and Too $hort. Her most notable duets were popular singles and music videos, even in America, during 1999 and the early 2000s decade. These include the following: "What It Is" with Busta Rhymes, "Candy" with Foxy Brown and "Got Your Money" with the late Ol' Dirty Bastard to which she was initially discovered after beatboxing with him in a video.
Music career
Kaleidoscope (1999)
Kelis began recording her debut album in late 1997 and was finished within a year. The album debuted at #144 on the top 200 albums and reached the top 50 on the heat seakers charts selling over 10,736 copies in the first week. The album since has sold just under 300,000 copies. Its debut and most notable single, "Caught Out There," peaked at #9 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and became a small MTV/BET video hit. 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" entered UK charts at #4 [2]. With its success, it was decided another single should be released. A third single, "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. Kelis won the Brit Award for Best International Newcomer. Kelis' biggest market was in Europe, where a combination of rap, R&B intermixed with rock and roll, and other genres was readily accepted. Australia and Asia also turned out to be easier markets for Kelis. The whole album was produced by Pharrell Williams & Chad Hugo (The Neptunes).
Wanderland (2001)
Her second 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 heavy play on MTV2 (as well as its Canadian counterpart, MuchMusic). According to Kelis, she and then American record company Virgin did not like the Wanderland album. The record executives at Virgin felt the album material didn't have strong enough singles. Unlike her debut, Wanderland sales were mediocre selling just under 80,000 copies in the United Kingdom. The whole album was produced by Pharrell Williams & Chad Hugo (The Neptunes) [3]
Kelis, who had moved to Europe during her successful period there, began touring with U2 on their European tour, and the United States with Moby during his Area:One tour. It was while in the US that she met and fell in love with rapper Nas and the couple were married on January 8, 2005.
Tasty (2003)
Kelis finally found mainstream success in the US in 2003, with her #1 urban, #3 Hot 100 song, "Milkshake"; this helped to propel her third album Tasty to gold status, selling over 540,000 copies in the U.S in only 2 months. The album to date has sold 760,000 copies.
The single and album immediately found success in Europe. According to the BPI, Tasty went platinum in the United Kingdom in October 2004 selling over 300,000 copies. The hit single "Milkshake" went silver in 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 the US, 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, selling over 70,000 copies. "Trick Me" also went platinum in Australia selling over 70,000 units. "Trick Me" was important because The Neptunes were, for once, not involved in its production. Instead, Dallas Austin co-wrote and produced this track. Although The Neptunes contributed a number of tracks to the album, Kelis began collaborating with other producers, such as Austin, André 3000, Rockwilder and Raphael Saadiq producing an altogether more eclectic sound. In New Zealand the album Tasty went gold selling over 7000 copies.
"Not In Love", a collaboration with Enrique Iglesias, was also released as a single and was a big hit in the UK reaching number 5 in 2004 but failed to catch on in the US outside of the club charts. Kelis followed her success of "Millionaire" with the Rockwilder produced track, "In Public" featuring Nas. The track was a UK only release, going as far as #17 on the charts with no video for the track.
With the success of Tasty, Kelis went on tour as the opening act for Britney Spears' The Onyx Hotel Tour in 2004.
Kelis Was Here (2006)
Kelis released her first single, "Bossy" (featuring Too $hort) from her 2006 comeback album due in August 2006. It is achieving frequent airplay on urban radio and is the lead single from her upcoming album Kelis Was Here (originally due to be called The Puppeteer)[2]. The album includes production credits by Scott Storch, Cee-Lo Green, Raphael Saadiq, Linda Perry, will.i.am, Swizz Beatz and Bangladesh. Shakira, Sean Paul and husband Nas have also recently claimed to have collaborated with Kelis for her fourth album. Kelis will also be part of Busta Rhymes' track "I Love My Bitch", the second single from his latest album The Big Bang. This will be the second time Kelis has teamed up with Busta, with the first time being on his song "What It Is". Kelis is also featured on the soundtrack for the upcoming dance film "Step Up" with a song called "80s Joint".
Currently, in addition to working on the upcoming album, Kelis is writing a cookbook and designing her own line of fashion accessories. [4]
Discography
For more information about her singles, albums, and music video, see Kelis discography.
Albums
- 1999: Kaleidoscope
- 2001: Wanderland (released in Europe, Asia and Latin America only)
- 2003: Tasty
- 2006: Kelis Was Here
Singles
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Caught Out There" | Kaleidoscope |
| 1999 | "Good Stuff" (featuring Terrar) | Kaleidoscope |
| 1999 | "Get Along With You" | Kaleidoscope |
| 2001 | "Young, Fresh N' New" | Wanderland |
| 2003 | "Milkshake" | Tasty |
| 2004 | "Trick Me" | Tasty |
| 2004 | "Millionaire" (featuring André 3000) | Tasty |
| 2005 | "In Public" (featuring Nas) | Tasty |
| 2006 | "Bossy" (featuring Too $hort) | Kelis Was Here |
| 2006 | "Blindfold Me" (featuring Nas) | Kelis Was Here |
Single appearances
| Year | Title | Album |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Got Your Money" (Ol' Dirty Bastard featuring Kelis) | Nigga Please |
| 2000 | "Honey (Remix)" (Moby featuring Kelis) | — |
| 2000 | "Supa Love" (Guru featuring Kelis) | Jazzmatazz, Vol. 3: Streetsoul |
| 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) | Broken Silence |
| 2002 | "When The Last Time" (The Clipse featuring Kelis) | Lord Willin' |
| 2002 | "Help Me" (Timo Maas featuring Kelis) | Loud |
| 2002 | "Take You Home" (Angie Martinez featuring Kelis) | Animal House |
| 2003 | "How You Want That" (Loon featuring Kelis) | Loon |
| 2003 | "Let's Get Ill" (P. Diddy featuring Kelis) | — |
| 2003 | "Make This Run" (Royce da 5'9" featuring Pharrell Williams & Kelis) | Build & Destroy: The Lost Sessions Part 1 |
| 2003 | "Finest Dreams" (Richard X featuring Kelis) | Richard X Presents His X-Factor Vol. 1 |
| 2004 | "Not In Love" (Enrique Iglesias featuring Kelis) | 7 |
| 2004 | "Oceania" (Bjork featuring Kelis) | b-side on the Bjork single "Who Is It" from the album Medulla |
| 2006 | "I Love My Chick" (Busta Rhymes featuring Kelis & will.i.am) | The Big Bang |
Videography
- 1999 - "Superthug"
- 1999 - "Caught Out There"
- 1999 - "Good Stuff"
- 1999 - "Get Along With You"
- 1999 - "The Funeral" - The Clipse (Guest appearance)
- 1999 - "Got Your Money"
- 2000 - "Supa Love"
- 2001 - "Lap Dance" - N*E*R*D featuring Vita & Lee Harvey (Guest appearance)
- 2001 - "Young, Fresh 'N New"
- 2001 - "Cross The Border"
- 2001 - "What It Is"
- 2001 - "Candy"
- 2002 - "When The Last Time"
- 2002 - "Help Me"
- 2002 - "Take You Home"
- 2003 - "How You Want That"
- 2003 - "Finest Dreams"
- 2003 - "Milkshake" (Original Version)
- 2003 - "Milkshake"
- 2004 - "Trick Me"
- 2004 - "Millionaire" (No physical appearance)
- 2004 - "Not In Love"
- 2006 - "Bossy"
See also
- List of Puerto Ricans
- Chinese immigration to Puerto Rico
- The Neptunes
- Nas
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
- List of artists who reached number one in Ireland
References
- ^ U.S. Public Records Index Record. Ancestry.com. Lists Kelis Rogers' birth year as 1979.
- ^ [1]UK pop charts (Accessed Dec 31, 2005)
- ^ Eye Weekly February 19, 2004 (Accessed Jan 1, 2006)
- ^ Kelis' official UK site (Accessed Dec 31, 2005)