Spotify Sessions

Following the release of her sixth solo album, Food, songstress Kelis debuted a 40-minute set of nine of its tracks at the McKittrick Hotel in New York City, and the soulful performance was recorded for the music-sharing website Spotify. The recording is a showcase for the singer’s smoky vocals and opens with a cameo from her young son, Knight, who asks the audience, “Are you hungry? My mom made food.” The song—“Breakfast”—is also the opening song of the studio album, 13 tracks of unrestrained R&B. The album is also an homage to the kitchen by the Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef, like on “Biscuits ’n’ Gravy,” a ballad with sultry vocals poured on top of a sparse, melancholy melody of piano and finger snaps that crescendos with an almost orgasmic release as the horns, drums and guitar explode through the end of the song. At the center of the organic performance is a poignant folk rendition of Labi Siffre’s “Bless the Telephone,” after which a fan is heard yelling, “Shut it down!!! You shut it down!” The set closes with “Jerk Ribs,” the first single off Food, and a raucous, danceable, fun song reminiscent of James Brown’s “Gonna Have a Funky Good Time.” And that is just what this live session is—a funky good time.