Official Charts Pop Gem #42: Kelis – Caught Out There

Kelis’s ultimate break-up song – and very first hit – from 2000 gets a well-deserved Pop Gem honour.

This week's theme was Debuts. Everybody has to have one – that very first hit that either kicks off a long and fabulous career or is their one and only moment in the sun. Whose debut hit has been overshadowed, eclipsed or unloved? Which popstar's first ever chart success deserves another chance to shine?

The nominations caused the usual stir in the office. Could a song that had got to Number 1 ever be a Pop Gem? (Yes, we’ve done it before.) Could we give Pop Gem status to a tune that missed the Top 40? (Yep! We’ve done that too!) Once we’d ironed out all the issues and had a nice calming cup of tea, we came up with a shortlist of 10 contenders:

Mel & Kim – Showing Out (No. 3 in 1986)
Savage Garden – I Want You (No.11 in 1997)
Pink – There You Go (No. 6 in 2000)
Kelis – Caught Out There (No. 5 in 2000)
Samantha Mumba – Gotta Tell You (No. 2 in 2000)
Liberty (later Liberty X) – Thinking It Over (No. 5 in 2001)
Daniel Bedingfield – Gotta Get Thru This (No. 1 in 2001)
Puretone – Addicted To Bass (No. 2 in 2002)
Alphabeat – Fascination (No. 6 in 2008)
Nicola Roberts – Beat Of My Drum (No. 27 in 2011)

There was much debate and hand-wringing, but there could only be one winner (unlike last week when there were two). And it was Kelis. Watch the video for Caught Out There before we explain why Kelis had to have Pop Gem status.

In keeping with the theme, Caught Out There was Kelis’s very first hit, hitting Number 4 back in 2000. Produced by Neptunes, who included none other than man-of-the-moment Pharrell Williams, (you can spot him in the video at the very end), it was a startling introduction to a very different female solo star. Kelis wasn’t like other ladies who sang about being cheated on.

Sure, she was upset, but rather than being mournful and crying about it, Kelis got ANGRY. “I hate you so much right now!” she wailed in the chorus. And, boy, she sounded like she really meant it. Kelis is not to be crossed. The Hype Williams-directed video made the most of Kelis’s fiery personality and refusal to conform. Wild-haired and shouty, Kelis was going to tell you what she thought.

Kelis has had other hits of course and, for a while, Caught Out There was the most famous one. But soon enough came Kelis’s monster hit Milkshake, which kicked off a new run of success for the husky-voiced star. Milkshake went to Number 2, and there were six more Top 5 hits to come, including Trick Me, Millionaire and Lil Star. So is Caught Out There overlooked and overshadowed enough to be a Pop Gem? Well, as brilliant as it is, it never brought any boys to the yard – it more kind of, you know, chased them out of it. And that’s kind of why we like it. Get out, you milkshake-scrounging boys, we’re listening to Kelis.

Caught Out There was the first of 16 Top 40 hits on the Official Singles Chart. She’s never had a Number 1, but has reached Number 2 three times. Her most recent hit was Bounce, her 2011 collaboration with Calvin Harris. A new album is due this year.

Watch another of Kelis's hits, the super-cool Acapella from 2010:

See our playlist of all our 10 contenders for our ultimate Pop Gem debut hit.

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