Who Is Kelis? All About the ‘Milkshake’ Singer

Kelis’ hit single “Milkshake” still brings listeners to the garden nearly two decades after its release.

Ever since he entered the music scene in the late 1990s and released his hit single in 2003, the hit producer has whipped up a musical feast that has cemented it forever in pop culture history.

The single was not only critically acclaimed (including receiving a Grammy nomination in 2004), it also topped the charts, peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100, and is Kelis’ highest-charting single to date. He has also appeared in many TV series and movies.

After the release of “Milkshake”, Kelis doubled as a musician and an exceptional chef, drawing fans and gourmets alike to the song-inspired culinary scene. Subsequent projects include “Jerk Ribs”, “Friday Fish Fry” and “Midnight Snacks”.

Kelis published a cookbook in 2015, My Life on a Plate: Recipes from Around the WorldShe described it as “the discovery of tastes and cultures and my experience as a conductor, musician, mother and wife”. (Ironically, no milkshake recipes were included.)

The multi-talented one hasn’t completely stepped out of the music scene as she ventured into the food court. In fact, he still makes music and performs at the same time! Most recently, he exhibited a set that attracted a lot of attention at London’s Mighty Hoopla festival, with Bill Murray among the thousands in the crowd.

Everything you need to know about Kelis, who has been rocking the music world since the 90s, is here.

His name is a combination of his parents’ names.

The “Milkshake” singer, commonly known by her single name, was born Kelis Rogers. Actually, Kelis is a combination of the names of both of her parents: her father Kenneth and mother Eveliss.

Kelis is a New York City resident who grew up with her three sisters in Harlem. His family, especially his father, who was a musician in his own right, greatly influenced his musical career. She focused on the African-American jazz genre.

“I grew up hanging out in jazz clubs, I fell asleep there among the people stepping on me because my family was there, so they took me away,” he said. This Guardian In the 2020 interview. “But today you’re looking at parents and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, it’s bedtime, I can’t talk to you!’ And that’s all: “We can’t go there because we have children!” I wonder if we died while we had children.'”

“And then there’s the disconnect: I’m hypersensitive to the things my parents fought for because they didn’t protect me from the truth.”

He went to performing arts school in New York.

Kelis was intertwined with music throughout primary school. He attended church choirs as a child and played violin, piano and saxophone while attending a private NYC school in Manhattan.

He continued his pursuit of music at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for Music and the Arts and Performing Arts in NYC. While there, he formed an R&B trio known as BLU (Black Ladies United).

He created his first album with Pharrell Williams.

Kelis entered the world of music by releasing her first album in the 1990s. Kaleidoscope At the age of 19, he met The Neptunes, the songwriting and production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. They bonded closely and the three were signed to Virgin Records.

However, working relations took a turn. “I thought it was a beautiful and pure, creative safe space,” she said. Guard. “But in the end it was not like that at all.” Publication copyrights and credits between them were at the center of the discourse.

“I was told we were going to share everything on 33/33/33, we didn’t,” he said of the first two albums produced by The Neptunes. Instead, he told the outlet that he was “blatantly lied to and deceived”. As a result, he said he earned nothing from the sale of his first two albums: Kaleidoscope and the 2001s travel land.

In response to the claim that he “signed” [the contract]Kelis said, “I signed what I was told and was too young and stupid to check again.”

He earned a Grammy nomination for ‘Milkshake’.

While the release of Kelis’ first two albums attracted attention, her first single “Caught Out There” attracted attention. Kaleidoscope; However, he did not see his big breakthrough and mainstream success until his third album.

Kelis released his third album in 2003. Tasty, This is what gave birth to the Grammy-nominated signature hit “Milkshake.” In August 2021, the singer considered her critically acclaimed work, which has a defining pop culture moment nearly two decades later.

“This is going to sound really smug and really arrogant, but I saw a photo of myself that someone shared. [from the Tasty era] Earlier today, and I was like, ‘You know, I was killing him,'” he told PEOPLE. It’s okay to say that.”

In fact, Kelis often thinks that her work is ahead of its time. “When I used to sit across from my company executives, ‘What are you doing?’ They would say. And I was like, ‘Well, I’m constantly inconsistent.’ That works now – because I have over 25 years in the game.”

He moved from Los Angeles to live on a farm.

While Kelis was a New York native, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career. However, he and his family decided to move to a farm in Temecula, two hours from California city, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I hate LA, I was just there for business,” Kelis said. Guard. “Because it’s not like New York or London, there’s nowhere to go after 10 pm, so you suddenly wake up early in the morning and squeeze the juice and go for a walk and calculate how much wheatgrass you can actually get.”

“So if I’m going to be in California, I need to be in a place where I can really appreciate how beautiful it is, rather than being stuck in Los Angeles and pretending this is a fun city.”

He continued his culinary efforts

Along with her musical endeavors, Kelis also acts as a food expert. In fact, his entry into the culinary world came long before he moved to the farm. After the release of 2006 Kelis Was Here, The “Milkshake” hit producer studied culinary arts at Le Cordon Bleu.

“Milkshake” aside, Kelis has drawn a unique career path by blending food and drink with music. In 2014, she released her fifth studio album, she. FoodFeaturing songs like “Jerk Ribs” and “Friday Fish Fry”. She has since written a cookbook, 2015’s My Life on a PlateHe ran multiple cooking shows and started selling some of his own produce through the Bounty & Full online store.

In 2021, Kelis released the fiery single “Midnight Snacks”, which he followed in 2022 with the Kraft Singles partnership song “Square It” and “Feed Them” with the food delivery company Daily Harvest.

Kelis, who is also a farmer, is working on her upcoming album. Dirt. He creates the project from a studio on the farm, and listeners will be sure to get that real farm-like vibe. “I’m on the farm, so you’re going to hear about the farm,” he told PEOPLE. “I’m always comfortable in imperfections.”

She is the mother of three children

Kelis is the mother of three children. She has two sons and a daughter.

The singer gave birth to her first child, son Knight, in July 2009. He shares it with his ex-wife, rapper Nas. In December 2015, she gave birth to her second child, son Shepherd, whom she shares with husband Mike Mora.

In March 2022, Mora died at the age of 37 after a two-year health battle after being diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer, two years after the couple welcomed their daughter, Galilee, in September 2020.

All of Kelis’s children moved to the farm with him. “I farm because I want to eat a certain way and I want my children to grow up a certain way,” she told PEOPLE about the moral behind her reintroduction. “I want to breathe a certain way. I want to walk a certain way and I don’t want to be told how to do it. That’s Kelis Land. That’s my domain.”