Kelis' Flesh Tone (2010) is Gay Rights!

[Jacolicious]

Flesh Tone, the fifth studio album by American singer Kelis, was released 11 years ago in the spring of 2010 by Interscope Records. A distinct departure from the R&B/Hip-Hop sound of her previous albums, the mastering on this project features heavy hitters like David Guetta, Boys Noize, Burns, will.i.am, and Benny Benassi. The album is VERY 2010, but in some ways ahead of its time (seriously!). With EDM dominating the airwaves back then, it's amazing how many people slept on this record! 

I loved playing Flesh Tone during my summer 2010 outings. I wasn't out yet, but the album found me before I left for college (and started... you know... experimenting ). While the album is "an ode to motherhood", re-listening to this album during Pride Month 2021 has made me realize how many songs are dedicated to embracing your identity and "emancipating" yourself -- a message I was struggling with, if not suppressing. 

Clocking under just 40 minutes with nine tracks (plus stellar interludes), I submit Flesh Tone is a lost gem of the 2010s. Competing for the same radio play as Ke$Ha, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, and hell, even Justin Bieber, I feel as though Kelis got lost in the mix. This is quite unfortunate considering at how fun this record is and how great Kelis is at flawlessly hopping from the slinky production of Pharrell Williams to the booming bass of the Benassi Bros. Not many artists can genre hop like that.

Disappointed with Flesh Tone's performance, she left Interscope and joined a British independent label, Ninja Tune, for the release of Food, a soul album with a diverse musical style incorporating funk and Afrobeat. It was very much a passion project, embracing her roots and saying farewell to mainstream dance pop. But I don't think Flesh Tone is bad or even dated. In fact, I like it more than I did 11 years ago.

What do you think of Flesh Tone? Is it a good record? Does it stand the test of time? Or is it a  ?

***In May 2021, Kelis announced that she was likely to title her upcoming seventh studio album, Sound Mind, and I'm here for it. Midnight Snacks, is thought to be the lead single. Sounds like old Tasty Kelis to me.***

Edited June 12, 2021 by Jacolicious
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[Jordan Miller]

Go off sis

[Alexanda]

Stream it now, so underrated. 

[VanillaCandlez]

I owned this on CD back in the day and it was on heavy rotation that summer for me! To be honest I haven’t revisited it much, it’s a little dated, but it brings back good memories. Acapella stayed on my Spotify playlists for a few years, too. Definitely an album for the LGBTQ+ audience 🌈🌈🌈

[Ofcoursenot]

Uhg I just love this entire album! It is SO good! Even the Bonus track Carefree American!

Sadly, the interludes are not on Spotify

And you can hear a little of Work ***** on Acapella  I see you William

[MX3]

this album was and is so underrated. thank you for making a thread about it.

I do believe it was ahead of its time...even tho Edm was big, it was still quality and didn't feel like it was just a watered down version of what was popular. 

there was this DJ called "third party" and I saw them live and they did a remix of Brave and I LOST. MY. ****. 

I could only find this link on youtube but its an amazing remix if anyone wants to check it out. 


 

 

[Adriannn]

I was listening to '4th of July' a couple hours ago, I love her so much!

[Rojo]

A EDM masterpiece ! It's such a good album!!!!!!! 

[holyray]

This album was so ahead of its time! Extremely underrated like most gems out there. It’s a well orchestrated full thru story. 

[Jacolicious]

2 hours ago, Ofcoursenot said:

Uhg I just love this entire album! It is SO good! Even the Bonus track Carefree American!

Sadly, the interludes are not on Spotify

And you can hear a little of Work ***** on Acapella  I see you William

Haha! Also, "Scream" is 100% the precursor to "Scream & Shout" 3 years later. Let's be real... will.i.am knew it was still the s*** and repurposed it for Britney 

[Jacolicious]

3 hours ago, Alexanda said:

Stream it now, so underrated. 

Interscope giving nothing to her video budget, but she's literally giving everything 

[Omar]

I love this album. I think it's Kelis's best. 4th of july is my favorite song.

[bitbitboi]

Thank you so much for reminding me of this album, I always loved it so much!! I found myself singing every lyric from "Brave", that reminded me how much I used to listen to it!! The whole album is super EDM, good stuff.

I love how Kelis started so vulgar with "Milkshake" but then got much more mature and serious with her music.

[Jacolicious]

4 hours ago, MX3 said:

this album was and is so underrated. thank you for making a thread about it.

I do believe it was ahead of its time...even tho Edm was big, it was still quality and didn't feel like it was just a watered down version of what was popular. 

there was this DJ called "third party" and I saw them live and they did a remix of Brave and I LOST. MY. ****. 

I could only find this link on youtube but its an amazing remix if anyone wants to check it out. 


 

 

I wanna hear this at 2am in a club packed with bravehearts.

[Returnofthemac]

One of the most underrated albums of all time 

[Jacolicious]

On 6/12/2021 at 3:37 PM, Adriannn said:

I was listening to '4th of July' a couple hours ago, I love her so much!

Is it just me or do you also see fireworks for each track? 

THIS WAS BEFORE 'FIREWORK' BY KATY PERRY, Y'ALL!

[Spicechinodiva]

Between this and Robyn's Body Talk, that's 2010 in a nut shell for some of the most slept on dance albums with serious lyrical content. 

[Adriannn]

29 minutes ago, Jacolicious said:

Is it just me or do you also see fireworks for each track? 

THIS WAS BEFORE 'FIREWORK' BY KATY PERRY, Y'ALL!

'22nd Century' makes me eargasm... so kinda yeah