1999 Rewind: Remembering Kelis’ Kaleidoscope

Are y’all ready to party like it’s 1999? We all love the 90s here at Soul In Stereo, so it’s only right to revisit albums that are marking 25 years in 2024. 1999 Rewind looks back at all your old faves and see how well they hold up.

Twenty-five years ago today, one of the most groundbreaking albums of its era landed – and most wouldn’t realize its brilliance until years later. Kelis’ debut was a stark left turn from R&B at the time, and it would go on to be highly influential in the following decades. It also was the coming out party for the Neptunes’ as they began their run of production dominance. My homie Neo Souljah makes her Soul In Stereo debut to chat about this hidden gem.

What were your initial thoughts when you first heard this album?

Neo: I was pleasantly surprised in this being my first intentional listen to a full body of work by her from cover to cover. She’s not a singer; I would put her in the same category as Mary J Blige in that she’s an interpreter. You can “feel” what she’s singing more that it being an auditory experience. I have trouble listening to those who have pitch issues, Unless the passion of what they sing about supersedes the flaws. She did that for me on this project. Her vibrato is fast but she knows when to restrain it,  and her natural phrasing works to her advantage. These are telltale signs of someone whose studied her craft and learned to paint inside the lines of the picture she’s creating with a limited set of colors, and still make it a work of art. I can honestly say I no longer call her the “Milkshake” singer although it’s one of my favorite guilty pleasure songs lol.

Edd: Kaleidoscope is yet another album I didn’t hear in real time in 1999, and I blame “Caught Out There.” Kelis’ breakout single was, of course, produced by the Neptunes, so you can imagine that our home turf of Hampton Roads, Va, PLAYED THAT SONG INTO THE GROUND. I already wasn’t a huge fan and its constant airplay didn’t help my mood. However, things turned around when “Get Along With You” sunk its emo claws into me – I thought that maybe this Kelis woman had something special after all. I didn’t hear the album in full until several years later and I was surprised by how diverse the production and arrangements were. I’m going to say this a lot in this piece, but Kaleidoscope was so ahead of its time.

Talk about your pick for Kaleidoscope’s best song.

Neo: “In The Morning” and “Get Along With You”

I’m tied! “In The Morning” has the best vocals. You can tell she puts in some nice work on the background vocals as well and that is no easy feat; there are a lot of singers out here who can’t harmonize with themselves and if they can, use enough textures to compliment their lead vocals.  Next, “Get Along With You” was the most interesting to me from a production standpoint in putting vocals that cruise over a staccato beat which would prompt faster delivery. I’ll reference Justin Timberlake as he did the same thing on ” My Love.” It’s an attention grabber and the lyrics are heartfelt. 

“You took my heartbeat from me
This is the saddest story
What was wrong with my love?
You took my heartbeat from me
Was it I loved you poorly?
Whatever it was, I just wanna get along with you”

An R&B song is only as good as it’s story after you secure the beat. Putting these lyrics against this beat and cadence made it the contender.

Edd: “Get Along With You”

Neo may be tied but for me it’s no contest. Like she said, the marriage of the intriguing production (the beat sounds like a ghost town from a Final Fantasy game) and aching lyrics – especially that heartbreaking hook – make this one of the more forgotten gems of its era. If something this creative and emotional dropped in 2024 the Internet would lose its collective minds.

Visuals time! Which song had the best video?

Neo: “Good Stuff”

“Good Stuff” was the better video in that it was just good fun, great optics, and not so much technology that you lost sight of the message. It was full of colors and characters which, given the drive to becoming more risqué by that timeframe in music, it’s hard to compete and be fully dressed. I do have to say, however,  that it would have been a better fit for “Roller Rink” thematically. 

Edd: “Caught Out There”

Kelis’ videos are … interesting. I totally forgot there was as a video for  “Good Stuff” – I don’t remember seeing it at all in the era. It’s sexy without going completely over the top, which is cool. I only saw the “Get Along With You” video a handful of times in 2000 and I’m still not sure what was going on. It’s a little bit Matrix, a little Nightmare Before Christmas, and a whole lotta insanity. But I’ll give the top spot to “Caught Out There.” I didn’t appreciate it much in 1999, but the scene of women – different races, ages, etc – protesting mistreatment hits way different in 2024’s political landscape. Once again, ahead of its time.

Which song featured the best production?

Neo: “Ghetto Children”

For me it’s “Ghetto Children” by a slim margin over “Get Along With You.” From the subtle bells to the chord changes, there was a lot of attention to detail in the composition that supported her clean approach to her vocals. The musicality is dope! With the breezy, jazzy transitions from verse to chorus and back, this is a master class in song structure which The Neptunes are iconic for.  And given the move in music towards songs created from loops while removing the chorus, bridge and vamp by the late 90s, it is the standout. 

Edd: “Get Along With You”

What can I say, I’m a “Get Along With You” SuperStan. In 1999, the Neptunes sound was fresh and innovative but still had its hallmarks – especially those video game-ish synths. But for 25 years, I haven’t heard anything from any producer that sounds as foreboding and downright mystical as “Get Along With You”. When Snoop Dogg told Dr. Dre to creep to the mic like a phantom, THIS is the track that should have been playing.  Incredible stuff.

Which song should have been a single?

Neo: “Ghetto Children”

“Ghetto Children” hands down. Because it wasn’t talking about romance in a relationship driven themed era.  It uplifted the men of our culture where we were complaining about not being treated right, offering wisdom and encouragement. It could have been one of the palate cleansers. Production wise, it’s the “next” thing while the culture was still stuck on the current thing which may be why it was overlooked. 

Edd: “Roller Rink”

This is a tricky one because most of the tracks on this album aren’t mainstream friendly. The infamous hook and catchy production of “Caught Out There” helped it a ton, but it was still a risky move to serve as a single in 1999. Little else, outside of “Good Stuff,” feels radio friendly to me. But I’ll go with Roller Rink – it’s fun, it’s feel-good, and I’m sure we would have gotten another insane video out of it.

What’s the most underrated song?

Neo: “Suspended”

This one wasn’t an easy choice and that’s a good problem to have. I’m going to go with “Suspended.” Given the sound and style she was rocking, it could have cemented this album as a greater body of work than perceived. Of the three singles that were released, it stands mountains above all of them. They really should have classed her as pop or alternative soul instead of R&B.

Edd: “In the Morning”

“In the Morning” for sure. Kelis’ vocals meld perfectly with the Neptune’s midtempo backdrop.  It’s the kind of grooves that are sorely missed in modern R&B.

This album was a major departure from most R&B projects in the 90s. What set it apart?

Neo: It was the trifecta of the body of work; her voice, their pens, and the production. If you look at the dominating R&B women of the 90’s, you’ve got Brandy, Whitney, Toni Braxton,  Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Faith Evans, En Vogue and Mary J Blige. With the exception of Janet and MJB all were pure, strong singers. And all of their messages were basically the same. Relationships. Love. Heartbreak. Sex. Kelis is addressing them as well but did so with a different sound to her music and perspective on the why, how and what to do in each area.

“I feel like I’m falling
What happens when I hit?
Must mean then that’s it
This black abyss, this pit
It all seems shades of gray
I’m never ready for light of day
This isn’t just in your mind
We’re suspended from space and time” (“Suspended”)

Edd: Neo nailed it. R&B was still in a good place in 1999 but it was in need of a shakeup. Kaleidoscope’s claim to fame often has been its production, since it was huge launching pad for the Neptunes’ history-making run. But this album is way more than a Chad and Pharrell’s beat portfolio – that does great disservice to this album’s writing and her vocals. Kelis is far from a powerhouse but she can convey emotion – lust, heartbreak and especially fury – better than most of her peers. “You took my heartbeat from me/This is the saddest story/What was wrong with my love?” The way she nearly moans that last line is artistic misery. Everyone sings about pain, but few did it that convincingly. Storytelling through song, that’s what set her apart from her peers.

(and yeah I used “Get Along With You” as a reference again, sorry.)

Kaleidoscope wasn’t a big seller at the time but has been more celebrated today. Why do you think that is?

Neo: Poor release choices and demographic targeting. That’s it. That’s all. I would say Kaleidoscope is about three years early in release,  as Mama’s Gun (2000 – Erykah Badu) and Justified (2002 – Justin Timberlake) turned our ears to eclectic neo soul vocals from E Badu, and bass heavy, international flavored pop from Justin. Kelis is sitting in the middle of that stride with a voice that has a less discerning ear today as long as it’s got a phat beat. Let’s face it; in the 90s to be a top artist you had to be able to Sang. Period. No matter how great the music. The three exceptions were Mary,  Janet and Badu. But their first releases caught and kept our attention and they made us listen. She was different as they are, but wasn’t marketed that way and should have been. Putting it out the way they did was dropping that circle in the square peg expecting it to fit. Had they targeted towards Badu/Scott/Floetry fans,  those more into cerebral than emotional, which is a fundamental of R&B, she would be a heavy hitter. Well… if she hadn’t changed drivers. 

I can tell that Pharrell and Chad’s ears have been developed by opening themselves up to different genres. You can hear Santana, Chicago, and Nirvana just as easy as you can hear Dre, Timbaland and other Black producers. As forward thinkers when it comes to composition, we had to play “catch up” with them. And now, with strong vocals being the least important thing for a song to have, this project is a recipe for success.

Edd: As I’ve been saying this whole post, it was just ahead of its time. If you were a fan of Brandy, Monica, Mary J Blige, Destiny’s Child and the like in 1999, it miiiiight have been a little jarring to hear the “loud screaming chick with the hair” (as Clipse’s Malice would say) yelling hatred over your speakers. Everything about Kelis was unconventional for 1999, but her look, her production, her brazen writing, all laid the groundwork for modern day R&B. As mentioned earlier, Kaleidoscope may not have had a lot of singles that were made for 1999 radio but it did have a blueprint that would establish a road for artists 25 years later. The album is more accepted now because its DNA is all up in every hit from SZA, Summer Walker, Jhene Aiko and countless others.

Is Kaleidoscope Kelis’ best album?

Neo: Absolutely. First impressions are always the lasting ones. To me, the team of Kelis and The Neptunes was akin to Janet with Jam and Lewis. There are good songs on the other projects but this one was the most cohesive with regard to sound and her vocal production that became more of an afterthought as her discography grew. Pharrell and Chad captured the style she emoted and catered the music to it, whereas the album Food at first listen felt more like heavy focus on the beats and her trying to get in where she fit in. That’s not a diss to David Sitek and Todd Simon who are dope alternative music producers; I believe, however, had she rocked with The Neptunes at least two or three more projects, she would be more appreciated and standing in the same arena as Badu, Timberlake, Solange and others in that same vein.  Overall, as this album has garnered renewed interest after almost 25 years of shelf life, and exceeds her more current work in both production and composition, there’s no debate. 

Edd: No question. The Milkshake-flavored Tasty album is her most successful LP to date and her most recent release Food is pretty tempting too. But neither of those albums broke ground and delivered as many surprises as Kaleidoscope. Kelis’ debut was the perfect storm – an eclectic artist who wasn’t afraid to shake R&B’s table and a production duo who weren’t going to be held down by conventions. They set out to change the game, and it happened. The Neptunes get mountains of flowers for reshaping the game in their image in the 2000s, but Kelis deserves the same love. Your favorite singer owes a lot to Kelis, whether they realize it or not.

Who got it right, Neo or Edd? Let us know below and share your favorite Kelis memories too.