Kelis – Acapella
2010 · Directed by Rankin & Chris Cottam
90K Likes
Best comments
1.“If the apocalypse doesn't look like this, I don't want it.”
More comments
- 2.“Kelis is the reason your fave got grey hair... years later! She's such a trendsetter.”
- 3.“The fact she wrote this about her baby son makes the song 10 times better.”
The story
Kelis wrote Acapella for her son Knight while she was pregnant with him. It started as a David Guetta beat with a melody she couldn't shake, and it became the lead single from her 2010 album Flesh Tone – a hard swerve from the hip-hop and R&B she was known for into full electro house. Pitchfork compared it to Donna Summer. It went to number five in the UK and number one on the US dance club chart.
Photographer Rankin and Chris Cottam shot the video in Los Angeles in February 2010. Kelis plays the last woman left on Earth, who goes tribal: a huntress in the jungle, gold body paint, glitter against a black void, black-and-white stretches, a desert island. She said she wanted a universal tribal feel and the opposite of a fashion video. At the very end, the reason for the whole song shows up – baby Knight, riding on her back in a carrier, in his first appearance on camera.
