Kelis (1980– )

US hip-hop artist. Her original music, infused with R&B and soul sounds, often features lyrics about female empowerment. Collaborating with the Neptunes, she released her debut album, Kaleidoscope, in 1999, which became popular in Europe and Asia but failed to make a major impact in the USA. She followed with Wanderland (2001), released only in Europe, and Tasty (2002), featuring the top-ten single ‘Milkshake’.

She contributed to US rapper ODB's hit ‘Baby I Got Your Money’ in 1999, drawing media attention with her multicoloured afro, and ultimately leading to her first full-length album, Kaleidoscope. This album featured the hit singles ‘Caught Out There’, notorious for its video, which featured the artist beating up a cheating boyfriend, ‘Good Stuff’, and ‘Get Along with You’.

Kelis (a combination of her parents' names Kenneth and Eveliss) was born and grew up in Harlem, New York; her mother is a fashion designer and her father, who died in 1998, was a jazz musician and Pentecostal minister. She revealed her range of musical talent from an early age, singing in the Girls' Choir of Harlem and playing piano, violin, and saxophone. She worked as a model and at 16 left home and enrolled in the La Guardia School for the Arts. There she formed her first R&B band, the trio BLU (Black Ladies United), leading to work as a backup singer. She met the Neptunes soon after graduation.