The Hits

Thought there wasn’t anything more to Kelis than the annoyingly infectious hit single 'Milkshake'? The 14-track 'The Hits' compilation picks some of the highlights of the four studio albums that she released between 1999 and 2006: 'Kaleidoscope', 'Wanderland' (which remains unreleased in the US to date), 'Tasty' and 'Kelis Was Here'.

Featuring all-star collaborations with Ol' Dirty Bastard, Andre 3000, and The Neptunes, the standout hook-up is with hip-hop pretty boy Pharrell Williams and NERD on 'Truth Or Dare It' — the song that made it look like Kelis could sing in any style and collaborate with whoever approached her with a decent idea.

One of those ideas came from her husband, hip-hop star Nas, who put himself on the very sexy 'In Public' — but even he couldn’t have predicted the huge success that 'Milkshake' would become. It made the world sit up and take notice of the busy-haired girl, and retained the edge Kelis had when she dropped 'Caught Out There' back in 1999.

That edge was also obvious on 'I'm Bossy' — the song that gave women all the rights, like Destiny Child's 'Independent Woman' — but the song is sorely missing from 'The Hits'; a glaring oversight, like the omission of the other Nas collaboration 'Blindfold me'.

But with most people just wanting to get another sip of 'Milkshake', it's probably only the hardcore fans who'll miss those songs from New Yorker Kelis Rodger-Jones' must-have compilation.