Love didnt' come easy to Kelis. Much of the lost Wanderland bears the scars of a dysfunctional relationship––one that took personal and professional tolls. “We never dated,” Kelis says of Pharrell Williams, the public face of the Neptunes. “We have the same relationship now that we did then, with the exception of the sexual part. I used to care too much. I began to feel that all men cheat. [I felt] all cynical and gross.
”Ironically, she says, “Pharrell was one of the people who was always like, ‘Nas would be perfect for you.’” And so he is. And even though Tasty sports some holdover aggression (especially on songs like “Trick Me”), what the album really conveys is Kelis’s comfort with her newfound artistic and emotional freedom.
“I never had an album that was all mine before,” she says. “Wanderland was really personal, but it belonged to a group of people—to me and the Neptunes and [Neptunes manager] Rob [Walker]. For Tasty, I literally went and got everything myself. Pharrell and Chad were totally submerged in their own shyt, had no clue nor cared what I was doing––which was fine. I was really out there for the first time in five years. I was by myself again, and there were no rules, which made it more interesting. If you work with someone for so long, it becomes a crutch. You get used to someone telling you, ‘Say it like this. Do it like that.’”
IF YOU WORK WITH SOMEONE FOR SO LONG, IT BECOMES A CRUTCH. YOU GET USED TO SOMEONE TELLING YOU, ‘SAY IT LIKE THIS. DO IT LIKE THAT.’
Pharrell, for his part, has nothing but praise for the singer. “Kelis is very attentive and she understands where her voice should be and how it should sound,” he says. “Working with her is never hard.”
