Tasty (Kelis album)
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Tasty is the third album by R&B artist Kelis, released in 2003. Unlike the previous albums Tasty opted for a more pop-oriented tune which lead to a greater success outside of Europe with "Milkshake" being the first single from Kelis to have critical acclaim in the U.S. and a peak position of three in the Billboard Hot 100. Eventually selling over seven-hundred thousand copies it was known for being Kelis's breakout album and being a spinoff on Europe. Not only making Kelis a major star, but this album brought to the attention of rapstar Nas.
About the album
The album is less experimental than the previous album, however it does incorporates genres which are not generally associated with R&B like the ska on "Trick Me" and a strong Rhodes guitar on "Rolling Through The Hood", as well as the electro space-funk delivered in the André 3000-collaboration "Millionaire". The overall feeling of the album is more laid back with a tendency to drift more towards soul than hardcore hip-hop.
The singles and album immediately found success in Europe. The album's second single, "Trick Me", once again proved successful at radio and video channels in Europe and went to the top 10 in many European countries during mid-2004. However, the song did not enjoy success in America, where its music video was not released. This was due to the fact that her US label Arista Records folded at the same time that Tasty was released. Kelis was then transferred to Jive Records, who were not interested in continuing with the album [1]. Despite this, Kelis' success grew in Australia. The album Tasty went gold in Australia selling over 35,000 copies. "Milkshake" went platinum in Australia selling over 70,000 copies. The second single "Trick Me" was important because the Neptunes were not involved in the production of this single. "Trick Me" also went platinum in Australia selling over 70,000 units. In New Zealand the album Tasty went Gold selling over 7,000 copies.
The success of Tasty was most obvious in the UK, where four singles from the album were released. After "Milkshake" and "Trick Me" came "Millionaire" and "In Public". Her UK label, Virgin Records, who she had been with since the start of her career there, decided to persist with the album. Due to her various splits with US labels, promotion for both of her previous projects Kaleidoscope and Wanderland were ended prematurely, just as she was finally breaking through in the UK. Virgin UK did not want her to lose the fan base that she was building up yet again by ending promotion early, because of the US and other territories deciding not to continue with the album [2]. This paid off and finally Kelis cemented her UK status, with 4 top 20 hits from the album (including three top 3 hits) and Tasty going Platinum there.
In the week of September 24, 2006, three years later after its release, Tasty re-entered the album chart in the UK at #64 -surprisingly, it even got to #3 in the UK Top 40 RnB Albums chart in the week of October 1st- while her latest album, Kelis Was Here had fallen off the chart the same week.
Track listing
| # | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Intro" | 1:30 |
| 2. | "Trick Me" | 3:26 |
| 3. | "Milkshake" | 3:02 |
| 4. | "Keep It Down" | 3:26 |
| 5. | "In Public" (featuring Nas) | 4:25 |
| 6. | "Flashback" | 3:25 |
| 7. | "Protect My Heart" | 4:24 |
| 8. | "Millionaire" (featuring André 3000) | 3:44 |
| 9. | "Glow" (featuring Raphael Saadiq) | 4:00 |
| 10. | "Sugar Honey Iced Tea" | 3:23 |
| 11. | "Attention" (featuring Raphael Saadiq) | 3:24 |
| 12. | "Rolling Through The Hood" | 4:45 |
| 13. | "Stick Up" | 3:51 |
| 14. | "Marathon" | 4:35 |
Unreleased/Non-Album Tracks
- "Everyday Story"
Track produced by Dame Grease.
- "Freak Me Slow"
Track produced by The Neptunes.
- "Guilty Girl"
Track produced by P. Diddy and co-produced by Mario Winans, which was released as a bootleg vinyl in 2005 under the name of "About To Hate Me".
- "Harlem Streets" (featuring Raphael Saadiq)
Track produced by Raphael Saadiq and co-produced by Jake & The Phatman, which was released as a bootleg vinyl in 2005 under the name of "Emergency".
- "Running Mate"
Track produced by Timbaland.
- "Oasis"
Track produced by Henri Charlemagne.
- "He Don't Know" (Mario Winans & Kelis)
Track produced by Mario Winans, initially recorded to be featured on his debut album, "Hurt No More", but left out of it.
All of the tracks above leaked to the Internet in one or other way, except "Everyday Story".
Singles
Personnel
| Kelis | vocals |
|---|---|
| André 3000 | drums, keyboard |
| Greg "Ruckus" Andrews | DJ |
| Jake & the Phatman | percussion, scratching, drums |
| Kevin Kendricks | piano, keyboard |
| Tony Reyes | guitar, background vocals |
| Raphael Saadiq | bass, guitar, vocals |
| Kelvin Wooten | piano, keyboard, sitar |
Production
| Producers | The Neptunes ("Milkshake", "Flashback", "Protect My Heart", "Sugar Honey Iced Tea", "Rolling Through The Hood"), Raphael Saadiq ("Glow", "Attention", "Marathon"), Dallas Austin ("Trick Me", "Keep It Down"), André 3000 ("Millionaire"), Rockwilder ("In Public"), Dame Grease ("Stick Up") |
|---|---|
| Engineers | Vincent Alexander, Gerry "The Gov" Brown, Andrew Coleman, Mike Koch, Carlton Lynn, James Majors, Glen Marchese, Rick Sheppard, John Tanksley, Patrick Viala |
| Mixing | Kevin "KD" Davis, Serban Ghenea, Glen Marchese, Dave Pensado, Daniel Romero, Dexter Simmons, Phil Tan |
| Mastering | Chris Athens |
| A&R | Barbara Wesotski |
| Assistants | Daniel Betancourt, Warren Bletcher, Andrew Dawson, Cesar Guevara, Doug Harms, Tim Olmstead, Geoffrey Rice, John Tanksley |
| Production coordination | Regina Davenport, Anette Sharvit |
| Programming | André 3000 |
| Drum programming | Jake & the Phatman |
| Arranger | Dallas Austin |
| Creative director | Joe-Mama Nitzberg |
| Layout design | Jeffrey Schulz |
| Photography | Indrani, Markus Klinko |
| Artwork | Jeffrey Schulz |
Charts
U.S. Charts Debut
The album debuted at #27 on the charts however it sold a strong 94,000 copies in the first week and is at 760,000 copies sold in the U.S., being certified Gold (500,000 copies).
U.K. Charts Debut
The album debuted quite low on the British albums chart, at #47, but it climbed strongly after the smash hit "Milkshake" was released, landing at its peak, #11.
Album
| Year | Chart | Position | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | US The Billboard 200 | 27 | Gold |
| 2004 | US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 7 | |
| 2004 | UK Albums Chart | 11 | Platinum |
| 2004 | Austria | 20 | Gold |
| 2004 | Switzerland | 14 | |
| 2004 | Germany | 51 | |
| 2006 | UK Albums Chart | 49* | Platinum |
Notes
- [*] Re-entry postiton the week of September 24,2006 '#64'. Peak position of Tasty in the UK in the week of October 1,2006