Kelis

Kelis
Background information
Birth name	Kelis Rogers
Born	August 21 1979 (age 29)
Origin	Manhattan, New York, United States
Genre(s)	R&B, hip-hop
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Years active	1999–present
Label(s)	Virgin, Star Trak/Arista, LaFace/Jive
Associated acts	Nas, The Neptunes
Website	KelisOnline.com

Kelis Rogers-Jones (born Kelis Rogers on August 21 1979^[1]) is a Grammy Award-nominated American singer and songwriter. She is married to rapper Nas.

Biography

Kelis was born and raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Her first name, pronounced [kuh lees], is a combination of the name of her father Kenneth and of her mother Eveliss. Kenneth is an African-American jazz musician, a Pentecostal minister, and a professor at Wesleyan University.^[2] Eveliss is a Chinese-Puerto Rican fashion designer, who inspired her to pursue her singing career.

As a child, she sang in church choirs and played violin, piano, and saxophone while attending Manhattan Country School, a private school. Kelis left home at age sixteen,^[2] but continued her education at age sixteen when she went to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she formed 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, Mondo Grosso, Usher, LFO, Moby, Richard X, Timo Maas, Björk, No Doubt, Enrique Iglesias, Too $hort, and her husband, Nas. 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, with whom she was initially discovered beatboxing in a video of his.

Music career

Kaleidoscope (1999)

Kelis began recording her debut album, Kaleidoscope, in late 1997 and was finished within a year. The album debuted at number one hundred and forty-four on the Billboard 200 and reached the top fifty on the Top Heatseekers selling over 10,736 copies in its first week of release. The album since has sold just 249,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its lead and most notable single, "Caught out There", peaked at number nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and became a minor 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 the UK Singles Chart at number four.^[3][4] With its success, it was decided that another single should be released. A second single, "Good Stuff", was also a modest hit, securing a number nineteen on the UK Singles Chart, although her third release "Get Along with You" only reached number fifty-one in the UK despite coming over to the UK to promote the track. In addition, according to BPI, a British music charts organization, Kaleidoscope went Gold, selling over 100,000 copies in the UK, where it reached number forty-three on the UK Albums Chart. Furthermore, Kelis won the Brit Award for "International Breakthrough Act" in 2001. Kelis' biggest market was in Europe, where a combination of rap and R&B intermixed with rock and roll, and other genres were readily accepted. Australia and Asia also turned out to be easy markets for Kelis. The whole album was produced by Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo (The Neptunes).

Wanderland (2001)

Her second album, Wanderland, was released two years later exclusively in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, after its lead single, "Young, Fresh n' New", failed to catch on in America. The video for the song barely registered on American MTV or VH1, but got heavy play on MTV2 (as well as MuchMusic in Canada). 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 80,000 copies worldwide and the only single to be released off the album, "Young, Fresh n' New", only reached number thirty-two in the UK.

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 U.S. that she met and fell in love with rapper Nas and the couple got married on January 8, 2005.

Tasty (2003)

Kelis finally found mainstream success in the U.S. in 2003, with her Hot Dance Club Play number-one, Billboard Hot 100 number-three single, "Milkshake"; this helped to propel her third album Tasty to sell over 400,000 copies in the U.S in only two months. It also earned her a Grammy Award nomination in 2004 for "Best Urban/Alternative Performance" (awarded to OutKast's "Hey Ya!"). According to Nielsen SoundScan numbers, the album has sold 528,000 copies in the United States and has gained Gold status in America.

The single and album immediately found success in Europe. According to the BPI, Tasty went Platinum in the United Kingdom on October 22, 2004 selling over 300,000 copies. The hit single "Milkshake" went Silver in the UK selling over 200,000 units. "Milkshake" was the fourteenth best-selling single in the UK in 2004. The album's second single, "Trick Me", once again proved successful on radio and music video channels in Europe and went to the top ten in many European countries during mid-2004. However, the song did not enjoy success in the U.S., 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, Tasty went Gold selling over 7,000 copies.

"Not in Love", a collaboration with Enrique Iglesias from his 2003 album 7, was released as a single the following year reaching number five in the UK. Although the single didn't manage to enter the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, it peaked at number one on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play. 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 number seventeen on the charts with no video for the track.

During this time, she also collaborated with Björk on a remix of the first single from Medúlla, "Oceania", which appeared as a B-side on her second single, "Who Is It".

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' fourth studio album, Kelis Was Here (originally due to be called The Puppeteer), was released on August 22, 2006, and debuted and peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200. Despite the top ten debut, the album has only sold 126,000 copies in the United States as of November 2006 according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its lead single, "Bossy" (featuring Too $hort), achieved frequent airplay on urban radio and was a moderate hit in the U.S., peaking at number sixteen. The album includes production credits by Scott Storch, Cee-Lo Green, Raphael Saadiq, will.i.am, Max Martin & Dr. Luke, Knobody, Polow Da Don, Damon Elliott, Cool and Dre, Sean Garrett, and Bangladesh. Unlike all of Kelis' previous albums, the producers The Neptunes are not featured at all, and Kelis said that was "very important to me", but said it was purely a business decision and has no ill will towards Pharrell or Chad.

The second single from Kelis Was Here, which was pushed by her American label (Jive Records), although without a properly physical release, was the red hot collaboration with Nas, "Blindfold Me", whose video premiered on BET's Access Granted on September 6, 2006. The song failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and only reached number ninety-two on the R&B chart, perhaps due to the fact that "Bossy" was still popular on the charts. After this, her European label (Virgin) decided not to release this single and to go instead with the Cee-Lo-featured "Lil' Star", which was released on February 19, 2007. The single was another huge hit for Kelis in the UK, peaking at number three. Despite being released over six months ago and "Bossy" only being a modest hit, Kelis Was Here is slowly climbing back up the charts and Kelis' fan base in the UK continues to rise. "Lil' Star" sold 18,000 copies in one week alone according to the UK Singles Chart for the week of February 26, 2007. The single success also grew in Ireland. On February 20, 2007, it reached a high number two on the Irish Singles Chart.

In the United Kingdom, the album has sold 60,000 copies and has been certified Silver by the BPI on September 29, 2006. In spite of the album debut at number forty-one on the UK Albums Chart, sales are climbing again following the popularity of "Lil' Star". Moreover, according to ARIA, Kelis Was Here has gone Gold selling 35,000 despite the fact the album had a low debut of only ninety-six on the Australian chart.

Kelis also collaborated with Busta Rhymes and will.i.am on the track "I Love My Chick", the second single from his 2006 album The Big Bang. This was the second time Kelis has teamed up with Busta, with the first time being on his 2002 song "What It Is". Kelis is also featured on the soundtrack to the dance film Step Up with a song called "80's Joint".

Kelis Was Here was nominated for "Best Contemporary R&B Album" at the 2007 Grammy Awards, but it lost out to Beyoncé's B’Day.

Current activities

Currently, in addition to working on the upcoming album, Kelis is writing a cookbook and designing her own line of fashion accessories, called Cake.^[5] She is also working with Ashanti on a high-heeled shoes line called KeShany Heels.^[6]

Ford has recently chosen Kelis to help advertise the 2007 Ford Edge. She has recorded a theme song for the commercial, called "Push It to the Edge", with help from Grammy Award-nominated producer Scott Storch.^[7]

Arrest

Kelis was arrested early morning on March 2, 2007 in Miami Beach, Florida. According to the police report, two female officers were working an undercover operation in South Beach as prostitutes. The singer started screaming racial obscenities at the women and was immediately restrained by her friends. Kelis was detained and charged with two misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and for resisting arrest without violence and was taken to Miami-Dade County Jail, where she was later released on a $1,500 bail bond.^[8]

Discography

Further information: Kelis discography

Albums

Singles

See also

• List of African Americans
• List of Chinese Americans
• List of Puerto Ricans
• List of Blasians
• 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

Wikipedia information about Kelis This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kelis". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.