Kelis

Harlem, NY, native Kelis has been one of the queens of "alternative" R&B in recent years. Graduating in 1997 from "Fame"'d La Guardia High School, and a violin player for 14 years, she signed in her senior year a production deal with the then-under-the-radar production team of The Neptunes, who produced all of her debut album, 1999's "Kaleidoscope" on Virgin. The disc was buoyed by the infectious "Caught Out There", which had a Hype Williams-directed clip. Her sophomore release, "Wanderland" (2001), wasn't as fortunate and did not get released in the U.S., which led to tensions with Virgin; she was later dropped because of lackluster performance. She did find solace in a romance with rap kingpin Nas; the couple is currently married. In late 2003, her career started going full throttle with the buzz surrounding her third CD, "Tasty", released in the tail end of '03. The 'Tunes do some production but not all of it; other producers include Dallas Austin, Raphael Saadiq (of Tony! Toni! Tone! fame) and Andre 3000 of OutKast. Kelis is no stranger to clubland. Her first major remix project was "Get Along With You" from "Kaleidoscope", remixed by David Morales and Bump 'N' Flex. Other notable club singles: "Good Stuff" remixed by Junior Vasquez; "Young Fresh 'n New" remixed by Timo Maas (which led to the two's subsequent collaboration, "Help Me"); and "Milkshake" nominated for a 2004 Grammy for Best Urban/Alternative Performance, peaking at #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play Chart in December 2003 with remixes by X-Press 2, DJ Zinc, and Freq Nasty.