There seem to be two kinds of soul acts dominating the scene at the moment – the defiantly uncompromising insiders like D'Angelo and the industry darlings with crossover potential, like Macy Gray and now, Kelis.
Kelis appeals to more than just the narrow soul niche because, unlike D'Angelo, her productions break out of the groove-based chill to get a whole lot more shouty and energetic. 'Caught Out There' is the perfect example, sounding like the ideal vehicle to con the rock press into loving their sworn generic adversary.
For one thing, Kelis spends much of this track raging against men, screaming: "I hate you so much right now!" For another, the production of The Neptunes – familiar to many from their hip hop background – makes this and many of the other tracks on Kelis' debut sound like a punky hip hop party. Watch this one sell.
