There's some pretty fierce competition out there, but surely the intro on Kelis's new album is the most ridiculous yet: a portentous piece of nonsense that claims our great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren "will know that Kelis was here". So was Kilroy, but even he didn't make that much fuss about it. Fortunately, things improve. The producer Shondrae delivers two of the best tracks, Bossy and I'm a Handful, which combine unhurried beats with neat pop touches. The album's closing half shows moments of greater depth in Kelis's voice and persona. They're pretty, but we'll all spend more time with confrontational rants such as I Don't Think So, which uses gloriously cheap glam-rock guitar and drums to back Kelis's defiant, "You askin' me to be nice? I don't think so."
Virgin