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Kelis Profile |
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Birth Date: August 21, 1979
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Birth Place: Harlem, New York, USA
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Birth Name: Kelis Rogers
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Height: 5'10"
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Biography |
Kelis was born on August 21, 1980, in Harlem, New
York. She learned the value of music from an early age
thanks to her father, an African-American jazz musician and
Pentecostal minister. She also learned the value of creating
a head-turning buzz thanks to her mother, a Chinese-Puerto
Rican fashion designer.
Kelis displayed an inclination toward music from an early
age, singing in various church choirs while also mastering
the piano, violin and saxophone. Despite her early success,
however, she found little harmony at home, and at the age of
16, she ran away. To her credit, Kelis continued to attend
school and eventually enrolled at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia
High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. It was there
that she formed an R&B trio called BLU (Black Ladies
United). Although shortlived, the group attracted the
attention of hip-hop producer Goldfinghaz, who gave Kelis a
spot on Gravediggaz's second album.
No longer just an amateur talent, Kelis soon hooked up with
Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, the super-producers better
known as The Neptunes. "One of my best friends, Courtney,
introduced me to a girl who lived around the way and who was
working with them at the time," she recalls. "I went down to
the studio one day and we just clicked." That connection
proved fortuitous as the pair generously helped her land a
deal with Virgin Records.
Kelis proved Virgin Records' confidence in her talent wasn't
misplaced when she released her debut album, Kaleidoscope,
in 1999. Infused with a psychedelic vibe, the album featured
the hits "Good Stuff," "Get Along With You" and "Caught Out
There," which hit No. 9 on the Billboard Hot R&B charts.
Overall, Kaleidoscope sold 290,000 copies and was certified
gold in the UK. In fact, the album's success overseas even
won her a prestigious Brit Award for Best International
Newcomer.
Recognizing that her market was primarily beyond American
borders, Kelis released her next album, 2001's Wanderland,
exclusively in Europe, Asia and Latin America. "When you put
on my record, I want you to feel that you've entered into a
new dimension, some place where you haven't been before,"
she said at the time. "You know when you go to a carnival
and there's a funhouse where the colors are different and
the music is distorted? It's reality but it's not really
reality, you know what I mean? I kind of want it to feel
like that." Unfortunately, what the album truly felt like
was failure. Bereft of any major singles, Wanderland managed
to sell only 80,000 copies while receiving little airplay.
Disappointed, but not deterred, Kelis returned home to
America to work on her next album.
It was there, in 2002, that she met rapper Nas at an
after-party for the MTV Video Music Awards. The pair fell in
love instantly and Nas proposed to her in New York on
Christmas Eve 2002.
With love in the air, Kelis finally broke through in America
in 2003 thanks to the release of her third album, Tasty.
Buoyed by the success of the megahit "Milkshake," which hit
No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, Tasty sold over 540,000
copies stateside in the first two months after its release.
By the time the year was up, the album was certified
platinum in the UK and went gold in the U.S., Australia and
New Zealand.
The album's success put Kelis squarely in the spotlight and
she took full advantage of her newfound celebrity. In 2004
alone, she was the opening act for Britney Spears' Onyx
Hotel Tour, she appeared on Saturday Night Live, and
"Milkshake" was used in the hit films Mean Girls and
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.
Kelis cemented her relationship with Nas on January 8, 2005,
when the pair finally tied the knot. Since then, she has
been toiling away on her fourth studio album, Kelis Was
Here, writing a cookbook and designing a line of personal
fashion accessories called "Mizrebelle." |
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Other
Information |
Became engaged to legendary hip-hop MC Nas on Christmas Eve
2002.
Born to an African American father and a Chinese-Puerto
Rican mother.
Her name is a combination of her parents' names.
Grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in Harlem
When she was 13, she shaved her head and, after it grew
back, dyed it a succession of colors (blue-black, blood red,
green, orange, platinum blond, and pink).
At 16, she was accepted as a drama major at New York's
renowned La Guardia School for the Arts
Her third album, "Tasty," was certified platinum in the UK
but not in the US.
Her wedding gown was a green design made by Matthew
Williamson.
Monday 26th February 2006: Won Best International Newcomer
at the 2001 Brit Awards. |
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