Kelis temporarily went back to music following failed cooking career

Kelis is best known for her 2003 hit Milkshake. Despite monumental success, the artist wished to pursue a cooking career in 2009 but later realized it would not support her family, prompting her to resume singing as a result.

She now has a son, nine-month-old Shepard, with husband Michael Mora. She explained, “Everything turned upside down and I didn’t know how to support myself through food yet, so I had to go back to what I knew, which was music. And it was kind of heartbreaking – I couldn’t even bear to watch any cooking shows.”

Now in 2016, Kelis got together with Le Bun’s Andy Taylor to open a pop-up eatery in London. They wrote a new menu for the eatery inspired by British diners.

She explained to the Guardian newspaper that life is completely different from before, adding, “It is totally different. I really do feel that music is a very selfish thing. I’ve always made music very specifically for myself. The fact that it has been a success for me is really God-given because I could not care less what people like. There’s also something aggressive about music – it attacks your ears even when you don’t want to listen – whereas food is the total opposite. Food is a choice and I think because of that, there’s a certain level of respect that has to go into it.”

Kelis also compared record label contracts to an arranged marriage. The creative mother is now happy to walk away from music and do what she loves.