Kelis's fourth album Kelis Was Here is scheduled to drop on August 22, and while Jive release dates aren't the type of thing we put money on, we're just as psyched as the rest of y'all for what Mrs Nasir Jones has cooked up this time. A few LP tracks have leaked already ("Fuck Them Bitches" and "Till The Wheels Fall Off") but the final tracklisting is still being confirmed - we checked an advance last week and will happily share a likkle preview write-up of our favorites after the jump.
Blindfold Me
FADER's Polow Da Don fandom is no secret, but dude truly outdid himself with this one, producing a minimal, moody bed of synth sirens to back up Kelis's ode to all things kink (When he want it, he blindfolds me/ Then I get sexy on him, get sexy on him). It's like Mr Collipark's "intimate club" for nightspots where everyone looks like Martin Gore, and sons pretty much every other song this summer. Nas is rumored to drop a verse on the single version, and seeing how the happy couple's last fuck song ("In Public") was the best track on Tasty (besides "Millionaire", duh durr), it certainly bodes well.
Like You
Chopped-up opera loop (by Knobody!), and Kelis getting both sweet - I don't just like you/ I LIKE YOU like you - and explicit - First date is going real well/ He's making me hot/ Or is it his cock (giggle). Real catchy.
Weekend
Wait, we have to respect will.i.am now? Or at least forgive his past transgressions against music (and general good taste)? First he laces Too $hort with "Keep Bouncing", and now comes with this electro/house number that lets Kelis channel her inner Debbie Deb. If the house remixes of "Bossy" were any indication, Euros are gonna have a field day with this one.
What's That Right There
More synths and sweat - I put the shimmy on your coco pop/ You likes it raw, I likes it on top....
Handful
Kelis brings back her nasal, bratty "Milkshake (Remix)" flow for this one, rapping on the verses (You might see me with a three piece on/ Pinstripe, Harlem fitted cap owwwnnn) right before getting super poppy on a "nah nah nah boo boo" playground hook. "Bossy" producer Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford provides the distorted, echoed guitar-based beat.
Ah Shit
More Bangladesh! Keyboard squiggles, Kelis doing vocal scraches for the chorus (HICKEY HICKEY HICKEY/ Aaaaaaw shit...), and a new dude named Smoke (nope, not the guy from Field Mob) with a cleanup verse.
Circus
It's not all clubbers on Kelis Was Here, there's a fair ammount of balladry too. This one is far and away the best of the slow joints, a collab with Raphael Saadiq (YOU SLEPT ON RAY RAY, AMERICA) where Kelis talk-raps about the fickleness of fame, Soundscans, and label drama before crooning about "escaping circus clowns" on the chorus. The odd time signature beat is winding and beautiful, and - maybe we're just projecting here - the backup harmonies recalll Lucy Pearl's best moments.