Red Red Wine , Gin and Juice, Champagne Supernova . There are plenty of great songs about drinks, but none have had a stranglehold on culture like Milkshake , the hip-shaking, yard-breaking pop banger released by Kelis in 2003. Milkshake became the soundtrack for a generation who never entirely understood why (or how) a milkshake brought so many boys to the yard, but we didn’t really care.
Ahead of her trip to Australia as a keynote speaker at BigSound, we caught up with Kelis, 44, to discuss milk-based drinks, becoming a farmer, and the size of her actual yard. If you ever find boys in your yard, it’s safe to assume Kelis’ milkshake is to blame. Credit: Sydney Morning Herald Straight up, I’ve got an 18-month-old son who weirdly loves Milkshake .
It has this magic effect on him every time it comes on. It was on my Spotify playlist last year because he likes it so much. Does the song still have a magic effect on you? I don’t know if a magic effect is the term I would use.
But it’s interesting to me, right? I love the fact that it’s lasted so long. I go through phases, though. It has been so long, so it’s got these ebbs and flows for me where sometimes I’m over it, and sometimes I think it’s pretty cool I was able to create something that’s lasted throughout, like, decades at this point.
It turned 20 last year, which is a good excuse for people like me to write stories about Milkshake . Were you forced to do a bunch of anniversary interviews? To be honest with you, I wouldn’t have known if people hadn’t told me. It’s not like I’m sitting at home crossing off a calendar, “Ooh, year 18 of Milkshake .
” But when I stopped to think about it, I was like, damn. Because the song still works, it doesn’t feel dated, even though it has been so long. ‘It’s not super fun to order [milkshakes].
.. My kids will ask, ‘Can we get a milkshake?’ and I just have to say no.
’ Singer Kelis You look at other songs from that era, like Suga Suga by Baby Bash, and you can tell it’s a 2003 song. On the other hand, Milkshake could have come out last week. I totally agree.
Milkshake , along with some of my other records, reminds me that people are not always going to get it right away. But when I know something’s good, I know it’s good. Do you ever have any milkshakes these days, or did the song ruin them forever? Well, it’s not super fun to order them out.
Like, that’s really annoying. My kids will ask, ‘Can we get a milkshake?’ and I just have to say no. It becomes a whole thing.
Yeah, selfishly depriving my kids of milkshakes. Fair. Last year, you teamed up with Lactaid for a campaign to get people to drink real dairy.
Yes, I did. In the ad, you remix the Milkshake lyrics, so it goes: “My milkshake is the talk of the town, made with Lactaid, the best taste around.” Did you get to write that, or did they? Well, for that particular one, I tweaked it a bit and made it make more sense for me.
What is so funny to me, though, is that Milkshake is one of the largest licensed records of this generation. It’s in commercials, TV shows and films. My kids can’t watch a movie without it popping up.
It was in Dodgeball and Mean Girls – two great films released in 2004. Yes, it was. And to this day, I have people hitting me up to use it all the time but when it first came out, no one wanted to play the record.
Musician Pharrell Williams co-wrote the song “Milkshake” with Kelis. Credit: Invision People didn’t appreciate drink anthems in the mid-2000s. They didn’t get it.
Radio stations thought it was too experimental, but I was adamant it had to be the single; I was unwavering that it would work. And if I hadn’t been persistent we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Have you said no to many people who want to use it? Well, I’m just getting to a point in my career now where the label will listen to me because Pharrell stole all of my rights to that song.
[Kelis has previously claimed that a publishing deal signed with Pharrell Williams, Milkshake ’s co-writer and producer, meant she made nothing from the song. Pharrell has never commented on the matter.] So, I couldn’t veto things I might have vetoed back then.
Even now, I still don’t have the right but I have more respect, which is really wack because it’s been forever and that’s my song. Your Milkshake famously brings all the boys to the yard. If someone were to rock up to your actual yard, it would be pretty big because you’re also a farmer.
I love to farm! My life changed when I bought a farm and I fell for the lifestyle. Also, as a chef and a mum, how we eat and what we consume became really important to me. I want to know exactly what I’m eating and why we’re eating it.
Most people consider themselves chefs, but you are actually a trained chef. I am. I trained at Le Cordon Bleu.
Calling your 2014 album Food makes a lot more sense now. What is your signature dish? Like, if we went over to dinner at your farm, what are we having? Well, it depends on what’s growing, but I’m a sauce girl so sauces are definitely my specialty. I love cooking sauce, but I also dig cooking with fire, right? I do everything on the BBQ.
My family always says, ‘It’s not BBQ weather!’ But I will still fire it up. It’s always BBQ weather in Australia. Are you excited to come back here for BigSound? I always have a great time in Australia.
I’ve been everywhere so stuff starts to blend into each other, but Australia doesn’t. It sticks out on its own. It reminds me of Jurassic Park, where everything can kill you and is a bit crazy.
I’m not unhappy with that comparison. Hey, I saw a countdown of your 20 greatest songs a few years ago. Can you guess what was number one? Milkshake ? Yes.
Trick M e was three, Bossy at four and Millionaire , my favourite song, was at 11, a travesty. What’s your favourite song of yours? It’s hard to choose because they’re all special to me, so it’s like picking a favourite kid. Do you have a favourite kid? [silence] No, I don’t.
Anyway, I would say Acapella if I had to choose a song. It’s beautiful and blossomed on its own, so I have a lot of love for that song. Kelis will be the keynote speaker at BigSound on September 5, ahead of an exclusive live performance at QLD Music Trails’ Sweet Relief! Music Festival on September 7.
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Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article We Want to Know Spectrum For subscribers Pop culture Thomas Mitchell is a culture reporter and columnist at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. Connect via Twitter or email .
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