KELIS SINGS THE PRAISES OF AFRICA ON EXTENDED TRIP

The eclectic career of multi-million selling singer, chef, farmer and entrepreneur Kelis Rogers has taken another twist of late. For much of this and last year the American 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 first knew her simply 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 cookery book author to organic farmer and head of her own 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-two has grown into a still ongoing adventure on the continent that has so far taken in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia and South Africa. Along the way Kelis has become an unofficial ambassador for these countries, sharing her love for their “energy, culture and beauty” with her 2.6 million followers on Instagram.

“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 – the 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 was able to explore 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 own journey-of-self-discovery. Importantly, she wants to show her followers the Africa that 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 largest, most diverse continent in the world. And while, yes, there are social economic differences like anywhere else I think it’s only right to show a different reality that I’ve seen for myself. 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 nyama 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 – in 2020 she escaped the urban hustle of her longtime home Los Angeles to live on a farm in the California countryside – has loved spending time among Naivasha’s smallholder farmers and has also visited the lush coffee fields of Kilimanjaro.

As a qualified ethnobotany herbalist – a field of study that examines the connection between people and plants –Kelis was full of admiration for 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.”

Naivasha farm

During her time in Naivasha there was talk in the local press that Kelis had purchased her own farm in the area. She won’t confirm the rumour to me but does say: “I’m definitely exploring farming opportunities here and Lake Naivasha is beautiful!”

When Kelis has tried her hand at farming in Kenya she says the results have been 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 grow 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 of those things are really important to me.”

From 2006 to 2008, Kelis studied at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, graduating as saucier. While the chorus of Kelis’ 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 own nyama choma barbecue while in Kenya using untreated wood for chemical-free kindling. She has explored the local food scene: “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 a long time 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 absolutely has inspired me, and I’d definitely 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