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Kelis is one of the forgotten stars of the 2000s. Most known for her 2003 hit single ‘Milkshake’, Kelis was ahead of her time and is considered one of the earliest alternative R&B singers.

Kelis’ 1999 debut album, Kaleidoscope broke the mould of commercial R&B music and with the help of The Neptunes a young Pharrell Williams reached unfathomable heights with her 2001 sophomore effort, Wanderland.

The Neptunes worked with many artists during their heyday. However, one of their biggest protégés was Kelis. The tracks she made alongside the duo, such as ‘Caught Out There’, helped the vocalist secure a record deal in 1998.

Although Wanderland was successful, Kelis’ mainstream breakout came in 2003 with the release of her worldwide hit ‘Milkshake.’ This Neptune-produced song earned the New York singer her first top-three single on the Billboard Hot 100 and her first taste of international success, with the track hitting the charts across Europe as well as Australia and New Zealand. The single peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making her a household name in R&B.

The vocalist continued to rise, and in 2006, her single ‘Bossy’ with Bay Area rapper Too $hort became a multi-platinum smash. However, her successes were few and far between, and her style was considered too erratic for the mainstream. Furthermore, by the mid-2000s, The Neptunes no longer bolstered her.

As such, she was dropped from her label during this period and found herself in musical limbo. Still, this is when one of her life’s strangest yet most defining moments came to pass. As her music efforts became less profitable, Kelis turned to other means of income. In 2008, with no record deal, the vocalist turned her attention to the culinary arts. Not only did she focus on cooking, but she packed up and left the US for the Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris.

During an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the ‘Milkshake’ hitmaker reflected on that period of her life, remembering, “Culinary school was such a defining moment! I went in there cooking like my mom, and I left there with my own set of skills and tools.”

Since then, Kelis has made a name for herself as a celebrity chef. Not only has she moved to the rural California hills, where she grows kale, broccoli, herbs, and other foodstuffs, but she has also released a cookbook, My Life On a Plate, and even launched her own wellness company, Bounty & Full, which produces oils, salts, and her own line of signature sauces.

In 2022, Kelis’ name was in the news as she found herself battling with Beyonce over sample clearance. However., it led to a much bigger conversation about Pharrell and raised questions surrounding how much of her music the vocalist actually owns.