Kelis took Manchester to bits last night. Took it to bits, put it back together again, and then took it to bits one more time before sending a sold-out crowd into the night to ring the sweat out of its clothes on the street.
When the Manhattan-born singer ram raided her way into the hipster R&B consciousness of the late 90s and early 2000s - when soul and R&B became very cool again in the wake of the perpetual bleeps of the rave era - she cemented herself as one of the most sought-after 'featured' singers in the world and a force to be reckoned with in her own right.
Caught Out There (notable by its screamed chorus of 'I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW') was accompanied by world class production from The Neptunes, at the time an emerging duo from Virginia Beach called Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams. It was a feminist call to arms, while follow-up Good Stuff was a straight up club banger.
