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Kelis Was Here

by Kelis

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Hip-hop's hottest housewife may not have 'em lining up around the block they way they did for "Milkshake," but Kelis Was Here, her fourth disc, doesn't lack for suggestive mouthfuls. "Blindfold Me" trades in unapologetic but catchy raunch, and "What's That Right There," produced by will.i.am, is a cool size-up of her sex life--"You likes it raw, I likes it on top/I got something for that lollipop," she teases. There's more to Kelis than dirty lyrics and a pretty face, though, and she proves that here deftly, first single "Bossy" being the best example. While her fellow R&B divas fall all over themselves to churn out the latest addition to the my-man-done-wronged-me canon, Kelis keeps her vulnerable side--if she has one--under wraps. "Bossy" salutes her inner dominatrix, and "Handful" and "I Don't Think So" send out high-fives to sauciness--a general don't-take-no-mess spirit. What may be most distinctive about Kelis Was Here, though, is its range: dipping, bobbing, and weaving from '80s pop to funk to hip-hop to smoky ballads, Kelis shows one-trick musical ponies how it's done with characteristic, cuss-heavy swagger. --Tammy La Gorce