Singer Kelis has new album, a new baby, and a new outlook on life. In a new interview with Vibe Magazine, the Milkshake singer opens about her music, her messy divorce to rapper Nas, and her ‘knight in shining armour’-her son Knight Jones.
On naming her son Knight(born July 22nd, 2009):
I love that name. I thought I was having a girl. I had a whole plan. I was having a girl and I had bought pink ponies and [stuff]. I was ready to rock and roll. I was like ‘I’m so in touch with myself.’ Obviously, I wasn’t. That was such a farce. So I only had two names for a boy: Knight and Sire. At the time, it would have been that he and I had the same initials, KJ. I just wanted a powerful and regal and majestic name for him.
On how she managed during her divorce:
I have great friends and great family that are stellar. They are so amazing. Whether I ever sell another record or not, I have real friends and real family that stuck with me. They were like however you want to roll, we’ll roll. How do you want to do this? If you want to yell, we can yell. If you want to cry, we can cry. If you want to not think about it, we’re going to not think about it. I said ‘I don’t want to think about it.’ No one brought up anything at all. No one brought up blogs or anything.
On how her son helped her through her divorce:
He really helped me get through everything. I could not let myself wild out and flip out and be emotional and depressed and sad and angry and all these things that naturally happen when you go through something like that. I am not going to let this little guy suffer because I’m in this situation. So I was so focused. My mourning period lasted about a week and then I was like ‘OK, I’ve got to pull this back together.’
On how being a mom has changed her outlook on life:
When I was pregnant I got into an argument with someone. I said ‘you have to realize, nothing you’ll ever do, ever, like for the rest of your life, will mean as much as what I’m doing now. You can win the Pulitzer prize, [the] Noble Peace Prize, and it wont even be a speck in what I’m creating. Do you know what that means?’ Half of the world can do this. That’s how I felt. I really felt like do you know how awesome I am? I’m literally making life right now. That resonated for me everyday. I was reading all these books and I joke with my baby now and I laugh and I’m like you’re made of pizza and bagels and all the good stuff in the world. I was not the perfect candidate for motherhood. But I’m like I can’t believe I made this creature, but I’m so in love.
Click here for pictures of baby Knight and Kelis at the airport
On why she had a natural childbirth:
I thought with all this crap, if I can do this, I’m invincible. I can do anything. I did no meds at all. They tried to give me morphine, but it was too late. I looked like hell, heinous. But I got through it. It was a very I-am-woman-hear-me-roar moment. That was some painful [stuff]. I’ll never do it again, though.
On recording while being pregnant:
I really felt like every song that I wrote and every note that came out… we’re doing it together. It’s so awesome. It’s such a reminder of how awesome God is. And then to have him and to look at him…
On why she went back to work:
I decided to start thinking. And with thinking came melody. And with melody came ideas. And with ideas, a vision came for this new world of music that I could do. And because I wasn’t signed, there was no pressure. There was no A&R. There was no opinion. I don’t need opinion when it comes to my music. I’m not the greatest singer in the world and I have no desire to be. But I’m honest. And the artists that I always loved the most were never… sonically perfect. They were the Kurt Cobains and Nina Simones. For all intensive purposes, they can’t really sing. But, my God, they get your heart and you believe them and you follow them and they become apart of your life. That’s who I wanted to be. I fell in love again with music.
