Kelis Speaks On Her Divorce From Nas

Kelis may have recently blown out thirty candles, but her flame is far from lost. In 1999 when most of today’s pop stars were just pierce-less middle-schoolers, Kelis was grown and busy debuting her first album, Kaleidoscope.

The cover featured a then 20-year-old Harlem hope, topless, body-painted, rocking a cheetos hued afro of curls. And though it took her four years to receive mainstream success (Hello Tasty), Kelis’ time wasn’t spent morphing from image A to B. The visionary claimed jezebel from jump and has maintained her bold mien through marriage (What up, Nasir!), divorce (Damn, Nasir!), and now motherhood. Even while approaching a decade plus career span and exiting a three-year hiatus, Kelis is far from extinguishable.

Now with a new Interscope deal under Will.I.Am Music Group and coming 5th album tentatively titled Flesh Tones, Kelis is back for her avant-garde crown. We caught a few minutes with the resilient divorcée and new mother as she spoke about frank New Yorkers, pregnancy pros, and stuntin’ on R&B’s young’ns. Don’t play with fire.

Honey: First off, congrats on your newborn! Did you have any doubts about recording so early again after having Knight?

Kelis: Actually, I never thought about it. Organically one thing just led to the other. I feel like your child should be a part of your life, not that your life should change because of your child. I never wanted to be that type of woman who couldn’t balance her family and work.

True, life is all about symmetry. I imagine motherhood has been good to you?

Yeah, honestly it’s awesome. I really, really love it.

What’s your favorite part?

Waking up at five in the morning and seeing that Knight’s awake and he’s got this bright, sunny, delicious face looking at me like, “Good morning mom.” It’s literally the greatest thing to wake up to and it tickles me every time. I adore him.

Aww! What about your outlook on life, has being a mother changed that at all?

It’s put a lot of things into perspective. I don’t think it’s changed who I am, but I think it just makes what’s important clear.

On your blog you mentioned walking down the street pregnant and hearing New Yorkers say so much to you. You recently went through your divorce with Nas and when a lot of celebrity couples separate, the public tends to take sides and be very verbal about who they do and don’t support…

I don’t give a shit about that. I don’t give a shit what anyone has to say about [my divorce].

Were you receiving both love and hate?

Yeah, I get both, but I don’t really care either way (laughs). At the end of the day it’s my life.

Indeed. I must ask, despite everything are you and Nas cool with each other?

(Laughs) We’re not talking about it.

Damn! Okay, respected. Going back to your site, the first thing that caught our attention was your hair. What inspired the silver and gold look?

Oh, I don’t know, I just feel like an animal. I kept thinking of a wolf or a husky and that’s what they look like.

Are you the type to wake up and say “I want to switch my hair up today” or is it premeditated?

Um, it’s a little bit of both.

Is this your favorite look?

Mmm, no, it’s just for right now. Every look I’ve had is my favorite look (laughs).

In regards to you, that seems to be the consensus for a lot of today’s female artists as well. How do you feel about all these half-shaved heads on chicks like Cassie and Rihanna?

Well I was definitely the first to do it. The only other person I would give credit before me is Pepa. Other than that, I expect them to copy me. What else are they supposed to do? They’re young. God bless them.

It gets interesting though because you’ve reached a point where you can actually see the artists of Generation Kelis, yet it’s not like you’ve retired.

Yeah. At the end of the day, everyone is just waiting for someone to do something new and if it’s generally me, then I’ll take that responsibility (laughs).

Who do you think did your look the best?

Oh, I don’t know. They’re all duplicates (laughs).

(Laughs) You’re like, “I did it the best, fuck that!”

I did though (laughs).

You got that! So we hear you’re a certified chef, it’s good to see an artist do more than just acting on the side. Has cooking always been your thing?

I just love food. I love the lifestyle of it and I love that every great event in one’s life is surrounded by food. Everywhere there’s love there’s food.

I imagine being a chef would come in handy during your pregnancy, but were you eating any crazy combos like PB and pickles?

(Laughs) Not at all. I just tend to eat everything, but not anything weird.

Was it easy for you to lose the baby weight?

I was scared to death actually, but there was no way I wasn’t losing that weight. Absolutely, no way!

Being a style icon did you feel limited with your wardrobe options while pregnant?

Oh, totally. I was completely limited. But finally you just surrender and say “You know what? I’m enormous and this is what it is.” I’m just so happy to be wearing normal clothes again.

Did you have a outfit while pregnant that you were proud of and would actually wear on the body you have now?

I think I pulled myself together pretty well. But I don’t know if I’d wear [those outfits] again. I just looked like a nice pregnant lady (laughs). Am I running to put that shit back on now? No!

You might’ve actually become a fashion icon for pregnant women.

(Laughs) Maybe. I mean [pregnancy] is not the most ideal physical situation, but it’s amazing when you can be both beautiful and pregnant. Because of the discomfort, I think a lot of women just give up. But I never gave up. My hair and nails were always done and I was always wearing something bright and shiny, made me feel better. I think that’s important.

So what’s Kelis’ style for 2010?

Honestly, I haven’t completely figured it out yet. Because I named my son Knight, I think I’ve been in a kind of Joan of Arc, World of Battles vibe. So everything has been lots of armor and metal for right now. But I have no idea where I’m going with it.

You’ve been in the business for over ten years now, where’s your mind at with creating a 5th album? Are you nervous or confident?

As far as music goes, if I’m not a little bit nervous, then I’m not doing what I should be doing. You gotta be nervous because it means your actually taking a chance and going towards something better. Nerves are important. Secondly, I feel fantastic. I just turned 30 and it’s been amazing. Being a woman in your 30s, things just start to make sense. You’re as sexy as you’ll ever be and you just feel really good. I love where I’m at in my life right now.