Kaleidoscope (Kelis album)

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |last=Ikeda |first=Jaime Sunao |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/kaleidoscope-mw0000259927 |title=Kaleidoscope – Kelis |website=AllMusic |access-date=July 16, 2015}}

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2Score = B+{{cite magazine |last=Robson |first=Britt |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/music/0,6115,275025_4_0_,00.html |title=Kaleidoscope |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=January 7, 2000 |access-date=March 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041128181251/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/music/0,6115,275025_4_0_,00.html |archive-date=November 28, 2004 |url-status=dead }}

| rev3 = The Guardian

| rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Caroline |title=I love you so much |newspaper=The Guardian |date=March 3, 2000}}

| rev4 = Melody Maker

| rev4Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Kelis: Kaleidoscope |magazine=Melody Maker |date=March 28, 2000 |page=48}}

| rev5 = NME

| rev5Score = 9/10{{cite web |last=Capper |first=Andy |url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/20000228154707.html |title=Kelis – Kaleidoscope |work=NME |date=February 28, 2000 |access-date=March 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001011195758/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/20000228154707.html |archive-date=October 11, 2000 |url-status=dead}}

| rev6 = Q

| rev6Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Kelis: Kaleidoscope |magazine=Q |issue=163 |date=April 2000 |page=88}}

| rev7 = Rolling Stone

| rev7Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite magazine |last=Berger |first=Arion |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kelis/albums/album/220950/review/6067933/kaleidoscope |title=Kelis: Kaleidoscope |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=February 17, 2000 |access-date=May 6, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209025622/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/kelis/albums/album/220950/review/6067933/kaleidoscope |archive-date=December 9, 2007 |url-status=dead}}

| rev8 = Spin

| rev8Score = 6/10{{cite magazine |last=Weisbard |first=Eric |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ta0nQqYx2t0C&pg=PA109 |title=Kelis: Kaleidoscope |magazine=Spin |volume=16 |issue=2 |date=February 2000 |page=109 |issn=0886-3032 |access-date=July 16, 2015 |via=Google Books}}

| rev9 = Uncut

| rev9Score = 8/10{{cite magazine |last=Cooper |first=Leonie |title=Kelis: Kaleidoscope (Expanded Edition) |magazine=Uncut |issue=276 |date=May 2020 |page=46}}

| rev10 = The Village Voice

| rev10Score = A−{{cite web |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2000/02/29/cleanup-time/ |title=Cleanup Time |work=The Village Voice |date=February 29, 2000 |access-date=March 14, 2020}}

}}

Kaleidoscope received widespread acclaim from music critics. AllMusic editor Jaime Sunao Ikeda remarked that the album "showcases the development of a great talent [...] It's when Kelis and her production team create tracks that best fit her voice and uniqueness that the end results are outstanding. Although comparisons to Neneh Cherry are inevitable, she does carve out a niche for herself, armed with undeniable talent." Music Week gave the album a positive review saying that it was, "A strong debut from one of the brightest female faces to appear on the R&B scene in recent years"; overall, they felt it would be unfair to just concentrate on Caught out there, "as the whole album displays talent".{{cite magazine|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2000/Music-Week-2000-02-19.pdf|date=February 19, 2000|title=Album Reviews|magazine=Music Week|page=22|accessdate=September 1, 2023}} NME called Kaleidoscope 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" and concluded: "Uplifting, magical, genre-bending music, if there’s a better debut album this year, bring it on. We need more like this." Q{{'}}s Kerry Potter described Kaleidoscope as "an album that packs punches of the Mike Tyson variety and oozes confidence from every beat [...] Kaleidoscope isn't just a promising debut, it's an inspired one."

Entertainment Weekly{{'}}s Britt Robson found that the album "fleshes out her persona with petulant sass and roller-rink whimsy, pegging her romantic maturity halfway between Brandy and Mary J. But what lingers are the minimalist staccato beats from production duo the Neptunes." Rolling Stone critic Arion Berger wrote that Kaleidoscope was "too musically adventurous and emotionally ambivalent to employ any one attitude. Plumbing retro styles is the easy resort of the hip-hop eclecticist, but somehow Kelis' background in jazz, gospel, rock and R&B; brings a deeply felt sonic futurism to her debut album [...] The Neptunes makes this interplanetary power-girl mix sound both danceably down-to-earth and shockingly new." In 2020, the magazine ranked the album at number 391 on their updated list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/ |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=September 22, 2020 |access-date=September 22, 2020}}

Kaleidoscope peaked at number 144 on the Billboard 200,{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/69091/kelis-cooks-up-tasty-new-album |title=Kelis Cooks Up 'Tasty' New Album |magazine=Billboard |date=September 15, 2003 |access-date=May 24, 2015}} and as of November 2006, it had sold 249,000 copies in the United States.{{cite magazine |last=Caulfield |first=Keith |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/56764/ask-billboard |title=Ask Billboard |magazine=Billboard |date=November 2, 2006 |access-date=July 16, 2015}} The album fared better in Europe, where all three singles—"Caught Out There", "Good Stuff", and "Get Along with You"—attained moderate commercial success. Kaleidoscope reached number 43 on the UK Albums Chart and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). By October 2004, the album had sold 167,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

After reaching number 52 on the UK Singles Chart on imports alone,{{cite web |url=http://www.zobbel.de/cluk/CLUK_K.HTM |title=Chart Log UK: 1994–2010: Alex K – Kyuss |publisher=Zobbel |access-date=July 16, 2015}} "Caught Out There" was given a proper release in the UK, eventually peaking at number four.{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/8721/kelis/ |title=Kelis |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=April 20, 2019}} "Good Stuff" also proved a modest success, reaching number 19 on the UK chart. The third and final single from the album, "Get Along with You", was her first solo release to miss the top 40, reaching number 51.

In an interview with The Guardian in January 2020, Kelis stated that she never earned any money from sales of her first two albums, adding that she was "blatantly lied to and tricked" by the production team with whom she had signed, at the age of 19.{{cite web |last=Freeman |first=Hadley |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/30/unmasked-singer-kelis-on-music-men-and-her-missing-money |title=Unmasked singer: Kelis on music, men and her missing money |work=The Guardian |date=January 30, 2020 |access-date=June 14, 2020}}

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, except where noted

| title1 = Intro

| length1 = 1:55

| title2 = Good Stuff

| note2 = featuring Terrar

| length2 = 3:52

| title3 = Caught Out There

| length3 = 4:51

| title4 = Get Along with You

| length4 = 4:27

| title5 = Mafia

| note5 = featuring Markita

| length5 = 4:18

| title6 = Game Show

| length6 = 5:04

| title7 = Suspended

| writer7 = {{hlist|Kelis Rogers|Williams|Hugo}}

| length7 = 4:53

| title8 = Mars

| length8 = 5:15

| title9 = Ghetto Children

| note9 = featuring Marc Dorsey and N.E.R.D

| writer9 = {{hlist|Williams|Hugo|Ricky Walters}}

| length9 = 4:48

| title10 = I Want Your Love

| length10 = 4:14

| title11 = No Turning Back

| length11 = 4:10

| title12 = Roller Rink

| writer12 = {{hlist|Rogers|Williams|Hugo}}

| length12 = 4:58

| title13 = In the Morning

| writer13 = {{hlist|Rogers|Williams|Hugo}}

| length13 = 4:20

| title14 = Wouldn't You Agree

| note14 = featuring Justin Vince

| length14 = 4:32

| total_length = 61:45

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Japanese edition bonus tracks

| title15 = Caught Out There

| note15 = The Neptunes Extended Mix

| length15 = 6:22

| total_length = 68:07

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 20th anniversary reissue bonus tracks{{cite web |url=https://store.udiscovermusic.com/*/*/Kaleidoscope-20th-Anniversary-Limited-Edition-Orange-Vinyl/6E480000000 |title=Kaleidoscope 20th Anniversary: Limited Edition Orange Vinyl |website=uDiscover Music |access-date=February 20, 2020 |archive-date=February 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220151912/https://store.udiscovermusic.com/*/*/Kaleidoscope-20th-Anniversary-Limited-Edition-Orange-Vinyl/6E480000000 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/kaleidoscope-expanded-edition/1488849355 |title=Kaleidoscope (Expanded Edition) by Kelis |website=Apple Music |access-date=February 3, 2022}}

| title16 = Get Along with You

| note16 = Morales Club Mix) (digital edition only

| length16 = 3:42

| title17 = Get Along with You

| note17 = Soul Inside Radio Mix

| length17 = 4:00

| title18 = Get Along with You

| note18 = Mix Show Version

| length18 = 4:33

| title19 = Get Along with You

| note19 = Pharrell Edit

| length19 = 4:13

| title20 = Get Along with You

| note20 = Bump & Flex Radio Edit) (digital edition only

| length20 = 3:54

| total_length = 88:29

}}

• "Ghetto Children" contains elements from "Hey Young World" by Slick Rick.

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Kaleidoscope.{{cite AV media notes |title=Kaleidoscope |type=liner notes |others=Kelis |publisher=Virgin Records |year=1999 |id=7243 8 47911 2 4}}

• Kelis – vocals
• The Neptunes – instruments, arrangements
• Terrar – vocals {{small|(track 2)}}
• Markita – vocals {{small|(track 5)}}
• Marc Dorsey – vocals {{small|(track 9)}}
• N.E.R.D – vocals {{small|(track 9)}}
• Justin Vince – vocals {{small|(track 14)}}
• Nicole Wray – background vocals {{small|(track 14)}}
• Kenny Wray – background vocals {{small|(track 14)}}

• The Neptunes – production, executive production
• Dave Hummel – engineering
• Andrew Coleman – engineering
• Şerban Ghenea – mixing {{small|(tracks 1–9, 11–14)}}
• Ken "Duro" Ifill – mixing {{small|(track 10)}}
• Rob Walker – executive production

• Len Peltier – art direction
• A³DTB / D Thom Bissett – design
• Me Company – hummingbird character and logo
• Jonathan Mannion – photography
• Steven Klein – photography

{{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for Kaleidoscope}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Kelis|title=Kaleidoscope|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=1999|certyear=2001|id=3581-1939-2|date=March 2, 2001|access-date=February 3, 2022|salesamount=167,000|salesref={{cite web |last=Jones |first=Alan |url=http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/robbie-compilation-beats-sales-record-for-entire-year/027142 |title=Robbie compilation beats sales record for entire year |work=Music Week |date=October 25, 2004 |access-date=December 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129030749/http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/robbie-compilation-beats-sales-record-for-entire-year/027142 |archive-date=November 29, 2014}}|refname="BPI"}}

{{End}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Kelis}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaleidoscope (Kelis Album)}}

Category:1999 debut albums

Category:Albums produced by the Neptunes

Category:Kelis albums

Category:Virgin Records albums