Blindfold Me

"Blindfold Me"
Single by Kelis featuring Nas
from the album Kelis Was Here
Released	October 3, 2006
Format	Digital download, CD single, 12" single
Recorded	2005 Westlake Audio (West Hollywood, California) Battery Studios (New York City, New York)
Genre	R&B, hip hop
Length	4:20
Label	LaFace, Jive
Writer(s)	Sean Garrett, Jamal Jones, Nasir Jones
Producer(s)	Sean Garrett, Polow da Don
Kelis singles chronology "I Love My Chick" (2006) "Blindfold Me" (2006) "Lil Star" (2007) Kelis North American singles chronology "I Love My Chick" (2006) "Blindfold Me" (2006) Nas chronology "Road to Zion" (2005) "Blindfold Me" (2006) "Hip Hop Is Dead" (2006)

"Blindfold Me" is the second US single from Kelis' fourth studio album, Kelis Was Here (2006). The single, released in October 2006, features American rapper Nas. The Nas-featuring version of the song was chosen for the single version, and only appears on international pressings of Kelis Was Here, while the North American edition has the original no-rap version. The song is about blindfolded sex. Kelis talks about how her lover experiments with her body, unaware of what to do. Nas raps about the male experience and dominance of the act.

"Blindfold Me" did not receive a commercial release, due to unknown reasons (possibly because of the song's racy nature), and was instead sent to radio stations as a promotional single. After Jive decided not to release the song as a commercial single in US, Virgin, Kelis' European label, decided that the Cee-Lo-featuring "Lil Star" would instead be the second official single from the album in Europe.

Despite not being a single in Europe, "Blindfold Me" received considerably heavy airplay on several European radio stations, mostly in Italy, where it landed at number eight on the Italian Top 20 Summer, and Albania (number four on the Albanian Top 50 Radio Hip-Hop). The song also charted at number one on the Australian Radio Metro chart on January 1, staying on the countdown for three months.

"Blindfold Me" was expected to be released in the United Kingdom as the lead single from Kelis' best-of album The Hits, due to the fact it had not been previously issued as a single there. However, this did not happen and the song was not included on the album, thus "Blindfold Me" remains Kelis' the only single not to be released there.

Music video

The sexually charged video for "Blindfold Me", shot in September 2006 in Los Angeles, California, and directed by Marc Klasfeld—who had previously worked with Kelis on "Bossy" earlier that year—, premiered on BET's Access Granted on September 6, 2006. It takes place at night, and it opens with Kelis walking hesitantly into an empty, rain soaked car park. An adult version of Red Riding Hood imagery may be suggested with kelis wearing something a skimpy black swim suit type body beneath a skimpy red dress which, while hooded and long, is backless, front-less and side-less above the waist and slitted up both sides. She has black heels on her feet, carries a small pocket book and wears chunky gold bracelets, sunglasses, an ankle chain and a thick, relatively tightly fitting gold necklace that later comes into view. While beginning to scan around the street lit parking lot, a man, also hooded in a black overcoat, who we might speculate Kelis was expecting to encounter, comes up behind her covering her eyes with his hand at which point Kelis says "blindfold me".

In the next shot we find Kelis sitting in a large apparently empty warehouse or parking lot, still hooded but with tails of a blindfold visible down her back and with her hands tied together behind the chair's back. The hooded figure reappears and tosses Kelis' hood back. With sunglasses gone and blindfold in place the video continues to further illustrate Kelis' lack of resources, freedoms and powers that she might otherwise have been able to access as well as her physical inability prevent the hooded figure from doing whatever he wants. The video shows several scenes with hooded figure, glass of water in hand, dripping water past Kelis' up turned mouth letting the drops fall on her upper chest with the video alternately flicking scenes, lit with red light, of a free Kelis within the experience of the light surf of a sandy beach. Other scenes show the hooded figure slowly taking ice from the glass and, with Kelis bent forward, drawing the ice down her spine with the video alternatly flicking to scenes of Kelis in a blue corset with long, white fur trimming in a form of ice grotto in which Kelis is free to touch, view, blow onto and otherwise experience a sculpted block of ice. The hooded figure brings a black panther into the room holding the panther's head away from Kelis by means of its tether and a now shoeless Kelis (how she got her shoes off is anyone's guess) is able to run her barefoot down the panther's back. The video alternately flicking to scenes of Kelis in a jungle-type setting in the animal / explorer role wearing a Leopard-patterned outfit, hair extensions of black plumage and black gloves. The image of the seated, sightless, tied, helpless Kelis in basic surroundings and chain type jewellery is further contrasted by images of Kelis lying down on black velvet, wearing a black silk top, black shoes and a large quantity of clear, white gemstones on that decorate her neck, hands, navel, the belt section of her bikini bottom and the handle of the riding crop in her hands.

Later on, the man is revealed to be Nas, who unties Kelis' hands, has her stand and proceeds to perform his rap segment while she, still blindfolded, dances suggestively near the standing and then sitting Nas. At the ending, Nas walks Kelis back to the same parking lot she was in at the beginning and then disappears. She takes her blindfold off so as to finally reveal her eyes, takes note of her surrounding situation and, smiling to herself, she walks away.

Track listings and formats

Promo CD single

1. "Blindfold Me" (Single Version featuring Nas)
2. "Blindfold Me" (Album Version)
3. "Blindfold Me" (Instrumental)
4. "Blindfold Me" (A Capella)
5. "Blindfold Me" (CD-ROM Video)

Promo 12" single

• Side A:

1. "Blindfold Me" (Main)
2. "Blindfold Me" (Instrumental)

• Side B:

1. "Blindfold Me" (Main)
2. "Blindfold Me" (A Capella)

Charts

References

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics