  ‘Milkshaker’ Kelis!
Kelis Rogers (previously Jones;
born August 21, 1979), is an American R&B singer-songwriter. She is a
BRIT Award winner and has been nominated for two Grammy Awards. She
became known worldwide for her third studio album Tasty, released in
2003 and has so far become Kelis’s most successful album to date,
selling over 2 million albums worldwide, and earning critical acclaim
upon release.
The album also featured her biggest hit, ‘Milkshake’, which became
well-known in Western popular culture. Kelis has sold an estimated 4.5
million records worldwide. As a youngster, Kelis was born and raised in
the Harlem neighbourhood of New York City, New York. Her first name is a
portmanteau of her father’s name, Kenneth, and her mother’s name,
Eveliss.
 Kenneth is an African American jazz musician, Pentecostal minister,
and was a professor at Wesleyan University. Eveliss is a Chinese-Puerto
Rican fashion designer who inspired Kelis to pursue her singing career.
As a child, Kelis sang in church choirs and played violin, piano, and
saxophone while attending Manhattan Country School, a private school.
Kelis left home at age sixteen, but continued her education at age
sixteen when she went to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music
and Art and Performing Arts, where she formed the R&B trio BLU (Black
Ladies United). After graduation, she formed a band with The Neptunes,
Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, and, with their support, landed herself
a record deal.
Her albums are Kaleidoscope and Wanderland (1999-2002), Tasty
(2003-2005), Kelis was Here and the Hits (2006-2008) and Present: Flesh
Tone (2009).
Now, Kelis is writing a cookbook with Robert Teamer and designing her
own line of fashion accessories, called Cake. Kelis is in talks to host
a Project Runway-esque show for VH1, and is auditioning for various film
and TV roles. In 2010 she has worked with Italian Electro and House DJ
Benny Benassi on his new single ‘Spaceship’ which will be on his
upcoming 2010 album. Benny Benassi has also remixed Kelis and David
Guetta’s new song ‘Acapella’. |
