6 minute read
KELIS sings the praises of Africa on extended trip
Grammy-nominated singer, chef, farmer, and entrepreneur Kelis Rogers's eclectic career has taken another twist recently. For much of this year and last, Kelis has been living in Africa and championing the “energy, culture and beauty” of countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda to her global audience of followers. Mark Edwards reports.
Fans of Kelis Rogers have learnt to expect the unexpected. Most were introduced to her as Kelis, the New York-born singer of global hits such as ‘Milkshake’ and ‘Caught Out There’, but her career has taken some tangents since – from Le Cordon Bleu-certified chef and cookbook author to organic farmer and owner of a natural beauty brand.
The New Yorker’s latest professional pivot is happening in Africa. What began as a family holiday last year for the mother-of-three has grown into an ongoing adventure that has taken her to Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, and South Africa. Along the way, Kelis has become an unofficial ambassador for these countries, sharing her experiences with her 2.6 million Instagram followers.
“Spending some extended time on the continent has always been something I wanted to do,” Kelis says. “The timing was right, and I was able to do it this time around.”
The long-awaited trip has given Kelis a deeper understanding of her family history and cultural background. Her father, Kenneth, was an African-American jazz musician, while her mother, Eveliss, is a Chinese-Puerto Rican fashion designer. Kelis, whose name was chosen as a blend of her parents’ first names, used food to connect with her Puerto Rican heritage in her 2015 cookbook ‘My Life on a Plate’. Now she is exploring her African roots. “I am a Black American and have roots here on the continent from both sides of my family,” she says.
Through her online presence, Kelis hopes to inspire others from the African diaspora to embark on their journey of exploration. Most importantly, she wants to show her followers the Africa she has experienced and how it is very different from the common global perception that tends to view the continent through a lens of poverty, conflict, and underdevelopment. One of her Instagram posts reads: “We have all been shown one image of the world's largest, most diverse continent. And while there are socioeconomic differences like anywhere else, I think it’s only right to show a different reality I’ve seen. The continent is bustling with energy, culture and beauty. This is Africa.”
The trip has been filled with memorable moments. Kelis says, “My recent trip to Cape Town was amazing. Rwanda felt like a utopia. It was so lush and beautiful. Walking with lions in Zambia was great. The beaches and sandbars in Zanzibar are so beautiful. Eating nyoma choma in Nairobi was awesome.”
Kelis has found that Africa excites all the passions – music, food, nature and beauty – that fuel her complex creativity. For example, Kelis, the organic farmer, who escaped the urban hustle of her long-time home Los Angeles in 2020 to live on a farm in the California countryside – has loved spending time among the smallholder farmers of Kenya’s fertile Naivasha region and has also visited the lush coffee fields of Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania.
As a qualified ethnobotany herbalist – a field of study that examines the connection between people and plants – Kelis admired the farmers’ “dedication and connection to the land” that she witnessed on the trip. She adds, “Plants are the source of sustenance for so many people. They are the basis of economic structures for people and are incredibly important to so many cultural traditions.”
During her time in Naivasha, the local press reported that Kelis had purchased her own farm in the area.
She won’t confirm the rumour to me, but she does say, “I’m definitely exploring farming opportunities here, and Lake Naivasha is beautiful!”When Kelis tried her hand at farming in Kenya, she said the results were delicious. “The quality of the fruit, especially here, has blown my mind. Apple mango [the most popular and widely grown mango variety in Kenya] was one of the most surprising, and I love that I can find soursop everywhere easily. My passion fruit grows like weeds here. Generally, everything grows better here.”
Organic produce is integral to Kelis’ cooking. “It adds more freshness, more flavour, and of course more nutrients,” she says. “As a chef, farmer, and mother, all those things are essential to me.”
From 2006 to 2008, Kelis studied at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, graduating as a saucier. While the chorus of her biggest hit single claimed her “milkshake brings all the boys to the yard,” in 2013, it was her condiments that grabbed the attention as she launched her signature line of sauces, oils, and salts. The brand, Bounty & Full, has now expanded to include all-natural beauty treatments and even moisturising beard oil for men.
Kelis has had the opportunity to show her cooking skills while in Africa. She constructed her nyama choma barbecue while in Kenya, using untreated wood for chemical-free kindling. She has explored the food scene of the Kenyan capital: “Chinatown in Nairobi was good. Eating all the food has been great.”
Other foodie adventures on the continent have included sampling the café culture of Cape Town, which Kelis calls “one of the prettiest cities ever”.
Kelis has also been inspired by the music she has been listening to while in Africa. She singles out a trio of “cool” Kenyan artists - rapper and singer Nyashinski, Sauti Sol member Bien-Aimé Baraza, and r’n’b singer-songwriter Otile Brown - whose music she has been enjoying on the trip.
This is encouraging news for Kelis fans who have had to wait long for new music. Her last album of new material was ‘Food’ in 2014, with just the 2021 single ‘Midnight Snacks’ released since. Could Africa’s vibrant music scene be the trigger that gets Kelis back into the recording studio? “It has inspired me and I’d love to collaborate with some African artists on my next project,” she says. Expect the unexpected.
To follow Kelis’s African adventure, follow her on Instagram @kelis
To check out the Bounty & Full range, go to www.bountyandfull.com
