Kelis

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Kelis
Background information
Birth name	Kelis Rogers
Born	August 21, 1979 (age 27)
Origin	Manhattan, New York, United States
Genre(s)	R&B, hip-hop, pop
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter
Years active	1999–present
Label(s)	Virgin Records (1999–2002) Star Trak/Arista Records (2002–2004) LaFace Records (2005–present)
Website	KelisOnline.com

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

Contents 1 Biography 2 Music career 2.1 Kaleidoscope (1999) 2.2 Wanderland (2001) 2.3 Tasty (2003) 2.4 Kelis Was Here (2006) 3 Discography 3.1 Albums 3.2 Singles 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

Kelis was born and raised in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, New York. Her first name, pronounced "kuh-LEES", is a combination of the name of her father – Kenneth, an African-American jazz musician and a Pentecostal minister – and of her mother – Eveliss, a Puerto Rican fashion designer of Chinese and black descent, 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 thirteen, but continued her education and at age 16 she 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, 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.

[edit] Music career

[edit] 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 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 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 the UK Singles Chart at number four.^[2][3] With its success, it was decided another single should be released. A third single, "Good Stuff", was also a modest hit, securing a number nineteen on the UK Top 75 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, 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 and Chad Hugo (The Neptunes).

[edit] 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.

[edit] Tasty (2003)

Kelis finally found mainstream success in the U.S. in 2003, with her number-four R&B, number-three Hot 100 song, "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 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 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 ten best-selling singles in UK in 2004. The album's second single, "Trick Me", once again proved successful at 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, the album Tasty went Gold selling over 7,000 copies.

"Not in Love", a collaboration with Enrique Iglesias on his 2003 album 7, was released as a single the following year reaching number five in the UK, but was only a minor success in the U.S. dance chart. 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.

With the success of Tasty, Kelis went on tour as the opening act for Britney Spears' The Onyx Hotel Tour in 2004.

[edit] Kelis Was Here (2006)

Kelis' fourth studio album, Kelis Was Here (originally due to be called The Puppeteer), was released in 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), is achieving 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. Kelis also collaborated with Busta Rhymes on the track "I Love My Chick", 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 "80's Joint".

The album has found life in England, where it sold 60,000 copies within its first three weeks of release and was certified Silver by the BPI music organization on September 29, 2006.

The second single from Kelis Was Here has been confirmed as "Blindfold Me" (featuring Nas). BET's Access Granted aired the video on September 6, 2006.

Kelis Was Here was nominated for "Best Contemporary R&B Album" at the 2007 Grammy Awards.

Currently, in addition to working on the upcoming album, Kelis is writing a cookbook and designing her own line of fashion accessories.^[4]

[edit] Discography

Further information: Kelis discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

Year	Single	Album
1999	"Caught Out There"	Kaleidoscope
	"Good Stuff" (featuring Terrar)
	"Get Along with You"
2001	"Young, Fresh N' New"	Wanderland
2003	"Milkshake"	Tasty
2004	"Trick Me"
	"Millionaire" (featuring André 3000)
2005	"In Public" (featuring Nas)
2006	"Bossy" (featuring Too $hort)	Kelis Was Here
	"Blindfold Me" (featuring Nas)
2007	"Lil' Star" (featuring Cee-Lo)
	"Trilogy"

[edit] See also

• List of Puerto Ricans
• List of Chinese Americans
• List of multiracial people
• 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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official U.S. website
• Official UK website
• Kelis at MySpace

• Kelis at All Music Guide
• Kelis at the Internet Movie Database