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Tasty is the third studio album by American R&B singer–songwriter Kelis, released on December 9, 2003 by Star Trak Entertainment and Arista Records. Considered the breakthrough of Kelis' career, she was able to expand her success across Europe reaching new markets in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. Kelis was also finally able to do well in the American market. Unlike her previous albums, Tasty opted for a more pop-yet-alternative-oriented tune which led to a greater success outside Europe with "Milkshake" being the first single from Kelis to receive critical acclaim in the U.S. and a peak position of number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The cover was shot by acclaimed celebrity photographers Markus and Indrani.

Album information

Both the album and its singles immediately found success in Europe. The album's second single, "Trick Me", proved successful on radio and music video channels in Europe, and went to the top ten in many European countries during mid-2004. However, the song did not enjoy success in America, where its music video was not released due to the fact that her U.S. 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]

This album is Kelis' second to bear the Parental Advisory label, and - as noted on the Parental Advisory sticker attached to the jewel case - there was an edited version also available. However, there were only two small changes made to the edited version. A sexual reference was cut out of the song "Trick Me", and Kelis' hidden outro appended to the end of "Marathon" on the explicit version is omitted. In the outro she says 'Okay, now, swallow.' On the album's Parental Advisory warning, there is note of strong sexual content. Ironically enough, on the edited version, the very sexually explicit song "In Public" remains unchanged and is the exact same version as that on the explicit version. Other explicit songs that have not been modified on the edited version are "Flashback", "Millionaire", and "Stick Up".

The success of Tasty was most obvious in the United Kingdom. The four singles from the album were released. After "Milkshake" and "Trick Me" came "Millionaire" and "In Public". Her European 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 U.S. 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 U.S. and other territories deciding not to continue with the album.^[1] This paid off and Kelis finally cemented her UK status, with four top twenty hits from the album (including three top three hits) and Tasty going platinum there.

In the week of September 24, 2006, three years later after its release, Tasty re-entered the albums chart in the UK at number sixty-four—surprisingly, it reached number three on the UK R&B Albums Chart the week of October 1—while her latest album, Kelis Was Here, had fallen off the chart the same week.

This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.

Track listing

Japanese edition

15. "Milkshake" (X-Press 2 Triple Thick Vocal Mix) – 9:30
16. "Milkshake" (DJ Zinc Remix) – 5:59

Reception

"Tasty" has received very positive reviews from critics. According to Metacritic, the album holds a score of 80 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[2]

Personnel

Musicians

• Kelis – vocals
• André 3000 – drums, keyboards
• Greg "Ruckus" Andrews – DJ
• Jake and the Phatman – percussion, scratching, drums
• Kevin Kendricks – piano, keyboards
• Tony Reyes – guitar, backing vocals
• Raphael Saadiq - bass, guitar, vocals
• Kelvin Wooten – piano, keyboards, sitar

Production

Charts

Release history

References