Kelis Rogers (pronounced 'kuh-Leese' is a combination of her parents' first names), Her Puerto Rican and Chinese mother, Eveliss, and her black father, Kenneth, has more oooh, than a headful of curly brown hair.

Though not very well known here, Kelis is no newcomer to the music scene. Her debut ‘Kaleidoscope’ in 1999 didn’t garner much attention, after which 2001s ‘Wanderland’ met with almost the same fate, more due to her absence of her release in the US that year. This third release ‘Tasty’ has its highs and lows, sometimes tasty or as we’d label it ‘sour’.

The R & B / Hip - Hop singer who fills her 14 tracklist with this genre, peaks on ‘Milkshake’ that’s catchy and funky and a sure chart topper. This could be more due to her collaboration for the second time with The Neptunes’ (Noreaga, Ol’ Dirty Bastard) punctuated beats who also feature on a host of other tracks. There’s also Andre 3000 from OutKast, Pharrell Williams and Nas.

The album is a noticeably stronger reflection of Kelis's distinctly pro-female and sexually forthright vision. She co-wrote five of the album’s 14 songs and further stepped up her game by serving as the album’s sole Executive Producer

You could chill out with Flashback, Protect my Heart and Rolling through the Hood which are entertaining. The lyrical content is explicit and prevalent in most pieces. A fine example of this would be In Public speaking about the joys of sex in crowded places. You could also check out Trick me and Stick up that has a neat groove and creative in certain segments. While these maybe the highlights to lookout for, most of the rest don’t really require a mention here as they lack any melodic hook and an edge that could make them patented hits.

To put it plainly, there’s really no great shakes about the album, no direction and no substance. Her vocals are saucy and soft, while that may be a plus point, it doesn’t have enough drive to hold the listener very long.

Though she is a big name overseas, atleast for the Indian junta there’s a wide choice of R&B / Hip Hop to choose from and gives enough reason to delist Kelis for the moment for she’s many moons away from a hit album.

Rating: ****

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira