Kelis Was Here | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 22, 2006 | |||
Recorded | October 2004 – June 2006 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | R&B[1][2] | |||
Length | 72:42 | |||
Label | Jive | |||
Producer | ||||
Kelis chronology | ||||
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Singles from Kelis Was Here | ||||
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Kelis Was Here is the fourth studio album by American singer Kelis, released on August 22, 2006, by Jive Records. Originally titled The Puppeteer,[4] the album features 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, Too Short, and Spragga Benz. It is Kelis's first album not to feature longtime collaborators the Neptunes. Kelis Was Here received a nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 2007 Grammy Awards.
The album's lead single, "Bossy", features rapper Too Short. The song peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 11, 2006.[5][6] The second single from the album, "Blindfold Me", featuring Nas, was released solely in the United States. It failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100,[5] while peaking at number 91 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[7] "Lil Star", which features Cee-Lo of the duo Gnarls Barkley, was released internationally as the album's third and final single. The track reached number three on the UK Singles Chart, earning Kelis her fifth UK top-five single as a lead artist.[8]
Due to the use of "I Don't Think So" in a promotional advertising for Big Brother Australia 2008, the song entered the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number 49 on April 21, 2008. The following week it rose to number 29, ultimately peaking at number 27.[9] It also reached number eight on the ARIA Urban Singles Chart.[10]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 70/100[11] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
Entertainment Weekly | B[1] |
The Guardian | [13] |
Los Angeles Times | [2] |
NME | 7/10[14] |
Pitchfork | 7.5/10[15] |
Q | [16] |
Slant Magazine | [17] |
Spin | [18] |
Uncut | [19] |
Kelis Was Here received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70, based on 23 reviews.[11] Ann Powers from the Los Angeles Times praised its eclectic music and said that it "mines a memory of R&B as the playground of category-dismantling individualists."[2] NME magazine wrote that it feels like "a wildly ambitious Warhol-esque art project."[14] Kelefa Sanneh from The New York Times described the album as "typically garish and glorious", with sounds that range from "space-age hip-hop ... to space-age guitar pop".[20] Q magazine said that the album is "chock-full of surreal soul diamonds."[16] Pitchfork's Tim Finney wrote that, like Wanderland, the album is "formally varied but feels consistent—even monochrome in parts."[15] In a review for The Observer, Peter Robinson commented that the album "occasionally misfires ... but there's still sass and creativity here."[21] MSN Music's Robert Christgau gave Kelis Was Here a one-star honorable mention,[22] indicating "a worthy effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well like."[23] He cited "Blindfold Me" and "What's That Right There" as highlights, and quipped, "Good for sex and not much else, which in a fantasy object is plenty."[22]
In a mixed review, Slant Magazine critic Preston Jones said that, although it is "an intriguing mishmash of sounds, beats, and vocal affectations", the album is "far too long" and lacks a song on-par with "Milkshake".[17] Chris Salmon of The Guardian wrote that without the Neptunes, "contributors such as Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am and [...] Shondrae reject all subtlety for songs that caricature Kelis as sexy, bolshy and not much else. The results are shallow and unconvincing, driven by the kind of brash holler and breathy schmaltz you would expect from J-Lo or Pussycat Dolls (complete with the rubbish guest raps)."[13] Mikael Wood of Spin said that Kelis "consolidates" her previous "allure" and "turns up sex, turns down sass".[18] Andy Kellman of AllMusic felt that it lacks first-rate material and "the range of emotions to match the varied backdrops."[12] Quentin B. Huff of PopMatters argued that "[t]he songs are individually good, but don't really sound like they should have been grouped together on an album."[24]
The album was nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Album at the 2007 Grammy Awards, but lost out to Beyoncé's B'Day.[25]
Kelis Was Here debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 with 58,000 copies sold in its first week, becoming Kelis's highest-peaking album on the chart to date.[26] According to Nielsen SoundScan, the album had sold 160,000 copies in the United States as of May 2010.[27]
The album debuted at number 41 on the UK Albums Chart,[28] selling 6,709 copies in its first week.[29] It was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on September 29, 2006,[30] and by May 2010, it had sold 32,083 copies in the United Kingdom.[29]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Intro" | 1:27 | ||
2. | "Bossy" (featuring Too Short) | 4:34 | ||
3. | "What's That Right There" | will.i.am | 4:17 | |
4. | "Till the Wheels Fall Off" |
| will.i.am | 4:13 |
5. | "Living Proof" |
| 3:41 | |
6. | "Blindfold Me" |
|
| 3:48 |
7. | "Goodbyes" |
| Cool & Dre | 4:42 |
8. | "Trilogy" |
|
| 3:56 |
9. | "Circus" |
|
| 4:40 |
10. | "Weekend" (featuring will.i.am) |
| will.i.am | 4:42 |
11. | "Like You" |
| Knobody | 3:00 |
12. | "Aww Shit!" (featuring Smoke) |
| Crawford | 4:09 |
13. | "Lil Star" (featuring Cee-Lo) |
| Cee-Lo Green | 4:55 |
14. | "I Don't Think So" |
|
| 3:02 |
15. | "Handful" |
| Crawford | 2:59 |
16. | "Appreciate Me" |
|
| 4:02 |
17. | "Have a Nice Day" |
| Elliott | 6:33 |
18. | "Fuck Them Bitches" (hidden track) |
| will.i.am | 3:49 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Intro" | 1:27 | ||
2. | "Blindfold Me" (featuring Nas) |
|
| 4:19 |
3. | "Bossy" (featuring Too Short) |
|
| 4:34 |
4. | "Fire" (featuring Spragga Benz) | Bloodshy & Avant | 3:31 | |
5. | "I Don't Think So" |
|
| 3:02 |
6. | "Weekend" (featuring will.i.am) |
| will.i.am | 4:42 |
7. | "Trilogy" |
|
| 3:56 |
8. | "Appreciate Me" |
|
| 4:02 |
9. | "Till the Wheels Fall Off" |
| will.i.am | 4:13 |
10. | "Handful" |
| Crawford | 2:59 |
11. | "Aww Shit!" (featuring Smoke) |
| Crawford | 4:09 |
12. | "What's That Right There" |
| will.i.am | 4:17 |
13. | "Circus" |
|
| 4:40 |
14. | "Lil Star" (featuring Cee-Lo) |
| Green | 4:55 |
15. | "Like You" |
| Knobody | 3:00 |
16. | "Living Proof" |
|
| 3:41 |
17. | "Goodbyes" |
| Cool & Dre | 4:42 |
18. | "Have a Nice Day" |
| Elliott | 6:33 |
19. | "Fuck Them Bitches" (hidden track) |
| will.i.am | 3:49 |
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Kelis Was Here.[31]
Chart (2006) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[32] | 96 |
Australian Urban Albums (ARIA)[33] | 8 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[34] | 69 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[35] | 45 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[36] | 88 |
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[37] | 60 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[38] | 82 |
French Albums (SNEP)[39] | 104 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[40] | 77 |
Italian Albums (FIMI)[41] | 90 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[42] | 109 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[43] | 35 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[44] | 72 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[45] | 51 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[46] | 22 |
UK Albums (OCC)[47] | 41 |
UK R&B Albums (OCC)[48] | 5 |
US Billboard 200[49] | 10 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[50] | 6 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] | Silver | 60,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
Canada | August 22, 2006 | Sony BMG | [51] |
United States | Jive | [12] | |
Germany | September 8, 2006 | EMI | [52] |
Netherlands | [53] | ||
United Kingdom | September 11, 2006 | Virgin | [54] |
Sweden | September 13, 2006 | EMI | [55] |
Italy | September 15, 2006 | [56] | |
Australia | September 16, 2006 | [57] | |
Japan | September 29, 2006 | [58] |