Kaleidoscope

Rolling Stone (1/4/01, p.113) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Top 50 Albums of 2000". Rolling Stone (2/17/00, pp.53-4) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...[her] background in jazz, gospel, rock and r&b brings a deeply felt sonic futurism....this interplanetary power-girl mix sounds both danceably down-to-earth and shockingly new." Spin (2/00, p.109) - 6 out of 10 - "...Kelis is...a cool sound on an album full of them....[The album's] production standout is 'Mars' where the chorus impossibly melds slow keyboards, fast bully chants, stutter drums, and Kelis' angled wailings with lyrics that involve refusing to leave the planet..." Entertainment Weekly (1/7/00, p.68) - "...fleshes out her persona with petulant sass and roller-rink whimsy, pegging her romantic maturity halfway between Brandy and Mary J....what lingers are the minimalist staccato beats from production duo the Neptunes..." - Rating: B+ Q (1/01, p.93) - Included in Q's "50 Best Albums of 2000" - "...Refreshing, vibrant and replete with futuristic flourishes..." Q (4/00, p.88) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...an inspired debut....[She] establishes herself as a solo artist with an album that packs punches of the Mike Tyson variety and oozes confidence from every beat..." CMJ (12/20/99, p.21) - "...one of the hottest R&B debuts of 1999....a full spectrum of moods and tempos...bound together by Kelis' reflective lyrics and the rubber soul production of the Neptunes..." Melody Maker (3/28/00, p.48) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Pop's best mad psycho-bitch from hell. She does possess a demonic godzilla-with-toothache roar....brilliantly futuristic..." Mojo (Publisher) (5/00, p.96) - "...The producers possibly see themselves as the new Jimmy Jam-Terry Lewis. She is their Mary Davis. The material veers from hard looks at rocky relationships...to, oh dear, UFOs....Best track is 'Ghetto Children', a positive, uptempo song with catchy chorus, crisp rap and a strong echo of Stevie Wonder." NME (Magazine) (12/30/00, p.77) - Ranked #10 in NME's "Top 50 Albums Of The Year". NME (Magazine) (2/26/00, p.35) - 9 out of 10 - "...a futuristic, visionary, multi-layered work of R&B, funk, soul and rap, furnished with an inspirational, psychedelic spirituality, rarely seen but desperately needed in these cynical times....We need more like this."