Single Review by Mark Bayross
Continuing the line from Lauryn Hill to Mel B of solo black singers fusing soul and hip-hop to “take the power back”, we have 20 year old Kelis, the latest r n’ b sensation to grace MTV.
This is the first single taken from her debut album KALEIDOSCOPE and it’s a stormer. Telling the simple tale of her reaction to her man’s infidelity, with its looped chorus of “I hate you so much right now!” bringing to mind what TLC would sound like if they turned nasty. Although Kelis insists that this is not a man-hating song (it’s about a man, not all men), it will undoubtedly be adopted as such, as it seems to be heading for anthemic status as fast as possible.
Also on the single are an extended version, mixed by the producers, which although twice as long, sounds identical to the original, and a CD-Rom video with a neat little biography of the singer.
It serves as a good introduction to the album, which if you look elsewhere on PHASE9, you’ll see I have wholeheartedly recommended.
