Flirting with Mozart: Classical Samples in Kelis's "Like You"
The famous “Queen of the Night” aria serves at the backdrop of the chorus in this song from Kelis’s Grammy-nominated 2006 album.
Unless you’re a huge R&B fan, you may only know Kelis from her in-your-face, memeable 2003 smash hit “Milkshake.” The song’s suggestive themes fit in well with a lot of early 00s R&B and hip-hop with overt sexual themes (for me, Ludacris’s “What’s Your Fantasy?” and Khia’s “My Neck” come to mind). But as an artist, Kelis is so so so much more than that.
This is one of the places where I start to realize that my pop music consumption is absolutely influenced by race. I spent 2006 with Rilo Kiley, Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, and Stars in my ears. This was typical for a lot of quirky white girls my age
And although I write about Black musicians & Black music, my social circles (which are majority white, and in college even more so) influence my choices. How you grow up & who you grow up around influences your musical choices & understanding. Whatever knowledge I have of Stevie Wonder & George Benson and whatever fangirling I do over Janelle Monáe & Lizzo does not qualify me as an expert on Black popular music. I could read a thousands of books or spend years listening to every Black artist who has ever released a single or gone uncredited on an album.
But I won’t ever have that lived experience of growing up with primarily Black music. I may win some points by referencing my decades long love for Lady of Rage’s “Afro Puffs,” but I am not to be trusted if I postulate myself as an expert in Black popular music. Musical tastes should not be limited to racial identification, but there have been issues in the marketing of Black artists via the actions of record & media companies for as long as there have been record companies. So many Black artists have long relegated to “urban” categories. It’s a thing. For real.
That said, I am glad I’ve taken a deeper dive into Kelis’s music. I especially love her 2014 album Food. And you might like a neo-soul take on the “Queen of the Night” aria.
External link to audio for Kelis’s “Like You”, found on YouTube.
Overview: The most recognizable part of Mozart’s famous coloratura “Queen of the Night” aria (from The Magic Flute) is heard clearly in the song’s chorus.
Introduction: Kelis (aka Kelis Rogers) is an artist from New York City. Her debut album was released in 1999, and she first gained massive fame in 2003 with her single “Milkshake.” That single peaked at number three on the Billboard charts, topped the charts in Ireland, and entered the top ten on several other worldwide singles charts. “Milkshake” also earned Kelis a Grammy nomination. The song “Like You” appears on her 2006 follow-up album, Kelis Was Here, which debuted at number 10 on the Billboard album charts. The song was written by Kelis, and co-written & produced by Jerome Foster. The album was nominated for a 2007 Grammy for Best Contemporary R&B Album. Following that album, Kelis took a hiatus from music and studied at Le Cordon Bleu. She has released subsequent albums, many of them related to food and including one simply titled Food. She has found a great deal of chart success in the UK & Ireland and sold over six million records to date.
Analysis: The primary sample of the song is that of the coloratura riffs from Mozart’s “Queen of the Night” aria from his opera The Magic Flute. Possibly the most famous of Mozart’s arias, the sample is so woven into the beat of the song it is almost undetectable at the start. However, as the first chorus is heard (at :28 in the recording linked above), it becomes very clear that you’re hearing “Queen of the Night.”
Can I Play This for Students?: The chorus section of the song is completely safe, as is the first verse of the song. Kelis is well known for double entendres in her music (or even single entendres). In the second verse of the song, Kelis is describing the first date with the object of her affection (& the subject of the song) and makes a notable play on the word “cocktail.” I would not play the second verse in any kind of classroom setting, but you can play the chorus in order to get the point across. (Just cut it off before you hit 1:18, which is the only school inappropriate part of the song.)
Here’s a little more information about the “Queen of the Night” aria and why it is so very famous.
