Kelis 2010 Interview

RS: I'm noticing two of your recent singles talk about getting high, there's “Get High” in “Spaceship” and “You Make Me High” in “4th of July.” Should we draw an inference to this aspiration for getting high?
Kelis: No, actually, it's funny. It’s really more about the figurative edge really, a state of life, and not so much about physically getting high. I mean, you can try it if you want, but that's not really what I was referring to.

RS: Interscope is your new label, how is it different this time for you?
Kelis: Oh please, it’s night and day. It’s been fantastic now and I fully love it. They’ve been really great.

RS: Interscope and Cherry Tree have been working on building artists over the long-term rather than just throwing a single out there and letting it fail. Are they spending more time building this album with you?
Kelis: Yes, honestly it's been a really great experience. Being on any label is hard and when it comes to creativivity, there's bound to be a kind of a give and take. It’s been amazing, I can't complain at all. It’s actually a really good label to be on.

RS: The album also seems shorter, are you going in the direction where you're going to do shorter albums more often?
Kelis: I don't know. I figured it was better just to get straight to the point and there's no point in teetering around. It’s better to do nine really great records than seventeen that you can only pick your favorites out of it. You’ve got to make a decision.

RS: Do you feel more in control now?
Kelis: No, I feel more at ease, though.

RS: That's a good answer. Why do you feel more at ease?
Kelis: There isn’t a fight just to be made. It just is what it is, so I feel really good about that.

RS: When you say “it is what it is,” it makes me think of the TV show Top Chef and a story that Pepper Mashay once told me. She says that the Italian producers loved her because when she works with them she eats and enjoys the food while a lot of singers don't eat. Well now that you're a cook, I was wondering what would you cook if you had Benny Benassi at your home?
Kelis: Oh, what would I cook? Oh I don't know, I make all kinds of stuff and I cook all the time. Benny is a great guy, so I’d ask him what he wants and what he doesn’t eat. It’s really more about what's at the market though and what's available. That's how I make my decisions.

RS: Because I was wondering like if each of the guys you worked with, like David Guetta and Ammo, if you had something in your mind that would be the perfect meal for them.
Kelis: Oh well I think I did cook for Ammo and Guetta at some point at my house. I don't know what I made though, it was a long time ago.

RS: Here’s a bad pun. From cooker let’s go to the Crookers. You did a really cool track with the Crookers “No Security” this past year, where did that collaboration come from?
Kelis: They were doing an album and they sent it over to me. I loved the beat and I was like sure, I’d love to write something.

RS: You were the “queen of dubstep.”
Kelis: Yes, it was a good time.

RS: In your current show you're doing right now, are you doing just the current stuff or are you doing all the songs, or how long is your show right now on tour?
Kelis: Every night it changes and every night there's a different requirement, so it's been kind of off and on. I've been doing up to like an hour.

RS: What do you want to say to all of your fans out there?
Kelis: Just have a good time. Enjoy the summer, sweat it out, dance a little… Actually dance a lot.

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