By Antonia Simigis

WHO IS SHE?:

We first heard Kelis (pronounced ka-leese) Rogers trying to calm Ol' Dirty Bastard in his 2000 club hit Got Your Money. The daughter of a jazz saxophonist and a member of the Harlem Girls Choir, Kelis, 22, has grown up to be one part R&B singer and three parts diva-in-training. ODB doesn't call her "Thunder Bitch" for nothing.

WHAT HAS SHE DONE?:

Everyone from Foxy Brown to Moby has enlisted this New York songstress to appear on their albums, and between guest spots Kelis has managed to release two records of her own. Best known for its single Caught Out There (and its scream-along chorus "I hate you so much right now!") Kelis' 1999 debut, Kaleidoscope, secured three Top 40 hits in Europe and cleaned up on the awards circuit. When Kelis' latest, Wanderland, was released in the UK, she was hand-picked by Bono to open for U2.

WHY DO WE CARE?:

Kelis is hell on wheels, throwing the Sex Pistols and Tina Turner into a blender for a look and sound that pushes the boundaries of hip-hop, giving it a shot of fresh energy it hasn't had since Lauryn Hill.

Playboy.com: Do you ever get ragged on in hip-hop circles for being too rock?

Kelis: Listen -- I'm an artist, and people are either going to love me or hate me whatever I do. So I'm going to do whatever the fuck I want to do.

PB: Your first album made you a full-fledged star in Europe when you were still a teenager. What are the perks of fame?

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