Kelis Was Here

Infobox Album
Name = Kelis Was Here
Type = studio


Artist = Kelis
Released = Start date|2006|8|22
(see release history)
Recorded = August 2004 – July 2006 at
Bangladesh Studios
(Atlanta, Georgia)
Battery Studios
(New York City, New York)
Blakeslee Recording Studio
(North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California)
Blue Basement Recordings
(Atlanta, Georgia)
Chalice Studios
(Los Angeles, California)
Doppler Studios
(Atlanta, Georgia)
Glenwood Place Studios
(Burbank, California)
Ocean Way Recording
(Los Angeles, California)
Right Track Recording
(New York City, New York)
Sony Music Studios
(New York City, New York)
The Hit Factory Criteria
(Miami, Florida)
The Record Plant
(Hollywood, Los Angeles, California)
Westlake Audio
(West Hollywood, California)
Genre = R&B, dance-pop, electro, alternative hip hop
Length = 72:42 (main edition)
76:39 (international edition)
Label = LaFace, Jive
Producer = Bangladesh, Raphael Saadiq, Jake and the Phatman, will.i.am, Cee-Lo Green, Polow da Don, Sean Garrett, Scott Storch, Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Cool & Dre, Knobody, Damon Elliott, Teddy "Bear", Jason Boyd
Reviews = *AbsolutePunk.net (79%) [http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=175693 lnk]
*Allmusic rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0zfyxqydld6e~T0 link]
*Review-Christgau|hm1|album=13495
*"Entertainment Weekly" (B) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1228424,00.html link]
*Okayplayer rating|2.5|5 [http://www.okayplayer.com/reviews/index.php/weblog/more/kelis_was_here/ link]
*Pitchfork Media rating|7.5|10 [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/38176/Kelis_Kelis_Was_Here link]
*Slant Magazine rating|2.5|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=938 link]
*"The Observer" rating|3|5 [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/10bestcds/story/0,,1871706,00.html link]
Last album = "Tasty"
(2003)
This album = "Kelis Was Here"
(2006)
Next album = "The Hits"
(2008)
Misc = Singles
Name = Kelis Was Here
Type = studio
Single 1 = Bossy
Single 1 date = January 31, 2006
Single 2 = Blindfold Me
Single 2 date = October 3, 2006
Single 3 = Lil Star
Single 3 date = February 19, 2007
Single 4 = I Don't Think So
Single 4 date = May 19, 2008

"Kelis Was Here" is the fourth studio album by American R&B singer Kelis, released on August 22, 2006 (see 2006 in music) in the United States by LaFace Records/Jive Records. It involves production by Bangladesh, Raphael Saadiq, Max Martin, Sean Garrett, and Scott Storch, among others, and also features collaborations with will.i.am, Nas, Cee-Lo, Smoke, Too Short, and Spragga Benz. The album was nominated for the Best Contemporary R&B Album category at the 2007 Grammy Awards and is also notable for being the first Kelis record to feature no production from long-time collaborators The Neptunes.

History

Chart performance

The album debuted at number ten on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 and at number six on the "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with more than 58,000 units sold within its first week of release, making it Kelis' best-charting album to date. Nevertheless sales declined soon and the album fell quickly off the chart after its sixth week. According to Nielsen SoundScan, "Kelis Was Here" sold 160,000 copies in the United States (as of June 2008), also making it her least successful album to date.

The album has not had much better success internationally; although it has been ceritifed silver by the BPI for more than 60,000 copies shipped in the United Kingdom.

Despite low sales, the album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 2007 Grammy Awards. Although not her first nomination, it was Kelis' first album to be nominated for a Grammy Award (her 2004 nomination was for her song "Milkshake" in the Best Urban/Alternative Performance category).

The album's lead single, "Bossy", was a successful hit which features rapper Too Short. It was a slow burner in the U.S. but eventually was certified multi platinum by the RIAA in December 2006. It broke into the top twenty of the "Billboard" Hot 100 to peak at number sixteen. The second single from the album in the U.S., "Blindfold Me", featuring Nas, peaked at number ninety-one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs but never made onto the Hot 100. The second international single was "Lil Star" which features Cee-Lo of the Gnarls Barkley fame and earned Kelis her highest chart entries since 2004's "Millionaire". "Lil Star" climbed to number three on the UK Singles Chart selling over 118,000 copies and was also a hit in Ireland reaching the number-two position.

Due to the use of "I Don't Think So" in a promotional advertising for "Big Brother Australia 2008", the song charted on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart on April 21, 2008 at number forty-nine just on digital download sales alone. The following week it rose twenty places to number twenty-nine, and has currently peaked at number twenty-seven. [ [http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display.asp?chart=1U50 Top 50 Singles Chart - Australian Recording Industry Association] ]

Track listing

#"Intro" – 1:27
#"Bossy" (featuring Too Short) (Kelis Rogers-Jones, Shondrae Crawford, Todd Shaw, Sean Garrett) – 4:34
#"What's That Right There" (featuring will.i.am) (Rogers-Jones, William Adams, Jr., Keith Harris, George Clinton, Jr., Philippé Wynne) – 4:17
#*Contains a sample of Funkadelic's "(Not Just) Knee Deep" (George Clinton, Jr., Philippé Wynne).
#"Till the Wheels Fall Off" (Rogers-Jones, Adams, George Pajon Jr., Harris, Printz Board) – 4:13
#"Living Proof" (Raphael Saadiq, Robert Ozuna) – 3:41
#"Blindfold Me" (Garrett, Jamal Jones) – 3:48
#"Goodbyes" (Rogers-Jones, Andre Lyon, Marcello Valenzano) – 4:42
#"Trilogy" (Rogers-Jones, Scott Storch, Jason Boyd) – 3:56
#"Circus" (Rogers-Jones, Saadiq, Ozuna) – 4:40
#"Weekend" (featuring will.i.am) (Rogers, Adams, Harris) – 4:42
#"Like You" (Rogers-Jones, Jerome Foster) – 3:00
#"Aww S***!" (featuring Smoke) (Crawford, Shanell Woodgett, Tamika Means) – 4:09
#"Lil Star" (featuring Cee-Lo) (Rogers, Thomas Callaway) – 4:55
#"I Don't Think So" (Rogers-Jones, Max Martin, Lukasz Gottwald) – 3:02
#"Handful" (Rogers-Jones, Garrett, Crawford, Boyd) – 2:59
#"Appreciate Me" (Rogers-Jones, Damon Elliott) – 4:02
#"Have a Nice Day" (with one minute of silence following) (Elliott, Greco Burratto) – 6:33
#"Fuck Them Bitches" (hidden track) – 3:49

International edition

#"Intro" – 1:27
#"Blindfold Me" (featuring Nas) (Garrett, Jones, Nasir Jones) – 4:19
#"Bossy" (featuring Too Short) – 4:34
#"Fire" (featuring Spragga Benz) (Rogers, Carlton Grant, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Henrik Jonback, M. Bell) – 3:31
#"I Don't Think So" – 3:02
#"Weekend" (featuring will.i.am) – 4:42
#"Trilogy" – 3:56
#"Appreciate Me" – 4:02
#"Till the Wheels Fall Off" – 4:13
#"Handful" – 2:59
#"Aww S***!" (featuring Smoke) – 4:09
#"What's That Right There" (featuring will.i.am) – 4:17
#"Circus" – 4:40
#"Lil Star" (featuring Cee-Lo) – 4:55
#"Like You" – 3:00
#"Living Proof" – 3:41
#"Goodbyes" – 4:42
#"Have a Nice Day" (with one minute of silence following) – 6:33
#"Fuck Them Bitches" (hidden track) – 3:49

Leftover tracks

*"Fire" (Alternate Version featuring Sean Paul) (produced by Bloodshy & Avant) – 3:30
*"Handful" (Alternate Version featuring Nas) – 3:04
*"Like You" (Alternate Demo Version)
*"Waiting for War" (produced by Damon Elliott)
*"Livewire" (produced by Damon Elliott)
*"Sign Your Name" (produced by Damon Elliott)
*"Chico" (produced by Damon Elliott)
*"Cheaters" (produced by Damon Elliott)
*"New York, NY" (produced by Damon Elliott)
*"Feelings Change" (produced by Damon Elliott)
*"Push It to the Edge" (produced by Scott Storch) (featured in the Ford commercials)

Personnel

Musicians

*Kelis – vocals
*Dawn Beckman – choir
*Renee Bowers – choir
*Renato Brasa – percussion
*Kerry Braxton – choir
*Jason Brown – choir
*Joseph Edwards – choir
*Cheryl Evans – backing vocals
*Jim Gilstrap – choir
*Lukasz Gottwald – instrumentation
*Julio Hanson – choir
*Keith Harris – keyboards, Rhodes guitar, Moog bass
*Charles Jones – piano, keyboards
*Max Martin – instrumentation
*Robert Ozuna – drums, percussion, turntables
*George Pajon Jr. – guitar
*John Patrick – choir
*Chuck Prada – percussion
*Printz Board – trumpet
*Sandra Riley – choir
*Raphael Saadiq – bass, guitar
*Erika Schimdt – choir
*Teddy "Bear" – keyboards
*Meneradini "Bridge" Timothee – piano, keyboards
*will.i.am – synthesizer, drums, keyboards, clavinet, Moog bass

Production

*Kelis – executive producer
*Ben H. Allen – engineer
*Wayne "The Brain" Allison – engineer
*Chris Athens – mastering
*Bangladesh – producer, engineer
*The Blitzburg Group – mixing assistant
*Jason Boyd – producer
*Robert "Brizz" Brisbane – engineer
*Grecco Burratto – arranger
*Cee-Lo Green – producer
*Vadim Chislov – assistant engineer
*Nathan Connelly – assistant engineer
*Cool & Dre – producer
*Kevin Crouse – engineer
*Dickie – hair
*Dr. Luke – producer
*Damon Elliott – producer, arranger
*J.Erving – executive producer
*John Frye – mixing
*Darien Gap – mixing
*Sean Garrett – producer
*Sharon Gault – make-up
*Serban Ghenea – mixing
*Conrad Golding – engineer
*John Hanes – Pro Tools engineer
*Jean-Marie Horvat – mixing
*Josh Houghkirk – mixing assistant
*Jake and the Phatman – producer
*Chad Jolley – mixing assistant
*Knobody – producer
*Padraic Kerin – engineer
*Markus Klinko and Indrani – photography
*Marc Lee – engineer
*Andrea Liberman – stylist
*Mike Makowski – mixing assistant
*Fabian Marasciullo – mixing
*Max Martin – producer
*Renson Mateo – engineer
*Dave Mattix – assistant engineer
*Charles McCrorey – engineer
*Colin Miller – mixing assistant
*Wesley Morrow – production coordinator
*Joe Peluso – assistant engineer, mixing assistant
*Dave Pensado – mixing
*Mark Pitts – executive producer, A&R
*Neal Pogue – mixing
*Polow da Don – producer
*James Roach – assistant engineer
*Tim Roberts – assistant engineer
*Danny Romero – engineer, mixing
*Raphael Saadiq – producer
*Tatsuya Sato – engineer
*Brian Stanley – mixing
*Scott Storch – producer
*Brian Sumner – engineer
*Phil Tan – mixing
*James Tanksley – assistant engineer
*John Tanksley – Pro Tools engineer
*Teddy "Bear" – producer, programming
*Too Short – engineer
*Denise Trotman – art direction, design
*will.i.am – producer, drum programming
*Ethan Willoughby – mixing
*Doug Wilson – engineer

Charts

Release history

References