Why did people sleep on Kelis Kaleidoscope album when it came out in 1999 ?

[DMGAINGREEN]

The instrumentals The Neptunes laced shorty with is pure piff and sound way advance for 1999 and her style was mad distinctive for her time as well she was doing all the weird shyt before rihanna , lady gaga etc Not putting Kelis on a Aretha franklin or whitney pedestal in terms of vocals so don't reply with that mentality , but she was straight though . When I heard it for the 1st time I'm thinking nikkas must of copped this shyt like crazy when it came out only to find out this shyt only sold 12,000 the first week in this era that's ehhh but in 99 ? Flop is an understatement . nikkas did shorty filthy



^^That mars joint could come out now and still sound recent

 

[macadomusic]

Classic album imo (even though they used the same snare alot)

 

[SirBiatch]

Kelis was definitely ahead of the curve, but her albums were never any good. Add that to her not being a great singer (though she's imaginative and brash which goes a long way with the right beat).

the question is: how many 'right' beats did she get? Not a ton.

 

[Big Mel]

Black alternative wasn't the wave yet. Plus she's wack as fukk.


the real question is why people still sleep on this album

 

[SirBiatch]

Black alternative wasn't the wave yet. Plus she's wack as fukk.


the real question is why people still sleep on this album

you answered your own question.

outside of Ice King with Nas

 

[Big Mel]

you answered your own question.

outside of Ice King with Nas

Nas was on Ice King? That album has cuts.

 

[DMGAINGREEN]

Black alternative wasn't the wave yet. Plus she's wack as fukk.


the real question is why people still sleep on this album

Like I said I ain't putting shorty on a pedestal vocal wise , but her style was ahead of the time as well as neptunes .
Also I never heard that joint you mentioned boutta bump that and see whats good .

 

[The_King_of_Everything]

Black alternative wasn't the wave yet. Plus she's wack as fukk.


the real question is why people still sleep on this album

Link

 

[SirBiatch]

Nas was on Ice King? That album has cuts.

I haven't this album in several years....

so I'm spinning some of these cuts. They're not bad at all. But that's the problem. They're not fantastic.

When you're bringing a new style/wave to the game, you gotta have at least 2 fantastic songs. The songs can't just be good across the board.

Hate on Kelis all you want, but she has some fantastic songs.

It's interesting reading the producers on the Res album. One half of Esthero and Santigold. Makes sense. This vibe was way too early, and has more British sensibilities anyway. I can't think of a single artist who's caught on in the US making stuff like this. Dido, maybe? Again, she's not American. and she's got the good skin.

 

[Rigby.]

Cause she almost ruined Nas' career

 

[PhonZhi]

I have all of Kelis albums except the very last one. Im a fan. I think The Neptunes had the best chemistry with her out of everybody they worked with

 

[PhonZhi]

Res is dope too

 

[Nature's Fury]

she was huge overseas...i woulda thought she did more than 12,000 first week...Caught Out There was a huge single...

album is piff, but Tasty is her crown...that album is amazing up and down...

 

[DMGAINGREEN]

Just smoked some loud and got this blaring out my speakers , shyt got me feeling like I'm ascending to heaven

 

[JustCKing]

I think you answered your own question in the OP. The album was advanced. Not everybody was ready for this in '99. This was also released before everything The Neptunes touched was everywhere. Another reason why people slept is because of how she looked and sounded. The wild, orange hair and unique style over The Neptunes futuristic beats was a lot in 1999. It also came at a time when Macy Gray had just dropped her debut. Macy Gray was huge, but the music was familiar especially since she blew up sampling OutKast's "Git Up, Git Out". Everything about Kelis just seemed like she was from another planet.