Music Video Monday… Kelis – Acapella

by Sticky Toffee Pudding

What’s not to love about Kelis? Seriously? Anyone that can bring out a debut single in which the words ‘I hate you so much right now’ are screamed repeatedly in the chorus against a stylish Neptunes beat is clearly skilled. Plus the video is pure comedy. I’m certain the world would be a much better place if more fed up housewives took to the streets and picketed against infidelity. Back then in 1999 Kelis epitomised the angry psycho ex: the spiral curls of her signature big afro shaking as she belted out the chorus in fury. I remember the first time I heard Caught Out There; she was performing on Top Of the Pops after which a nervous looking Jamie Theakston introduced the next act.

Yet the thing I love about Kelis is the diverse range of emotions she taps into when making music and the way in which she reinvents herself each and every time. She’s pretty un-generic in that sense.  She’s just so versatile. From her gothic take on the video for Get Along With You, to her flirtatious lollipop licking track Milkshake; in which a pervy Nas (now ex hubby) leers at her whilst flipping eggs. (Gross yes, but can you really blame him? The thumbnail says it all really.) Of course they did then go on to produce some truly cringe-worthy duets, a serious faux-pas it’s true. ‘In Public’ still causes me to bow my head in disgrace: lovey-dovey couples singing about romance is bad enough, but sexed up couples singing about the hotness of their love life is a form of torture none should have to endure. It’s like Beyonce and Jay Z, you just don’t want to know!

After disappearing into obscurity for a good few years (one can only assume those duets made a serious dent in her career) it appears that Ms Rogers is back and singing along to a new tune. Acapella is her beautiful tribute to eight month old son Knight. She’s teamed up with Electro – House legend David Guetta: the Timbaland of Dance (seriously from the Black Eyed Peas to Britney Spears – is there anyone this guy hasn’t collaborated with?). It’s a very different style for Kelis and one that works well.

Sporting feathered crowns and tribal tattoos she adopts an Africanesque appearance, invoking the native and spiritual in a way that rather reminded me of Fever Ray’s ‘When I Grow Up‘. And the song is full of so much energy and emotion that it just makes me want to dance and sing along.  In the words of Pitchfork Media “‘Acapella’ is a smooth, Donna Summer-style track with Kelis as an icy electro queen, a robotic embrace of house’s metronomic bliss… so uplifting it doesn’t just make you want to dance – it makes you want to dance with everyone who’s a little bit special to you.” Couldn’t have put it better myself.