Kelis made a great album in 2006...

...and I didn't buy it.

Why? Because lead single Bossy was a tuneless self-aggrandising crunk'n'b dirge. Imagine that, folks: a tuneless, self-aggrandising crunk'n'b song. It is almost too hard to fathom, but I swear on my life it is true.

Scout's honour and everything.

But the rest of the album is superb, and Kelis is on the verge of releasing one of its standout tracks in the UK. Called Lil Star, it's a duet with Cee-Lo out of Gnarls Barkley. It's a melodic, mellow masterpiece, and you can preview it on this link. (I was going to post the video but, in a stroke of genius, youtube has removed it - even though it was Kelis's record company who put it there).

Once you've finished listening to that and going "aaaaah", head over to the recently resurrected Beauty N The Beat, which has just run an exclusive interview with Kelis. In it, the big-lunged, gold-toothed, Nas-marrying, milkshake-shaking diva shows exactly why she deserves more recognition from the R&B community. And that's basically because she's worked out exactly what her place is in the grand scheme of things:

My job is to bring things you don't know you like yet. There's a difference between performers and artists. I'm not the greatest singer in the world. I already know that. But I know I'm an innovator. I always say the greatest artists in the world are not the most talented people, they're the ones compelled to bring you something different because they don't know what else to do. They're the painters who paint not because they can make money but because they cannot stop.

That quote alone should make you think about checking out Kelis Was Here. The fact that it's only £6.99 at CD WOW gives you no excuses whatsoever.

Here endeth the lecture.

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