Kelis is unpredictable. While many fans would love to hear a musical reunion between her and The Neptunes, the eclectic songstress surprised the masses when she chose to make her new label home at Interscope Records with the will.i.am Music Group.

Though she won’t mention any names, Kelis admits that a slew of record labels were bidding for the right to release her fifth effort, Fleshtones. “There were definitely people that were interested in signing me before [choosing will.i.am’s label],” she discloses to staging-rapup.kinsta.cloud. “I played it for a few of the key labels that I liked that I thought would understand a record like this.”

The 30-year-old mother of one is no stranger to creating records with the Black Eyed Peas frontman. Back in 2006, will.i.am produced several tracks on her fourth album, Kelis Was Here, including “What’s That Right There” and “Till the Wheels Fall Off.” “I’ve worked with will before and I love him,” shares Kelis. “I love [Interscope chairman] Jimmy [Iovine]. It was a good marriage.”

There is one question that remains: Why choose will.i.am when other labels were fighting to make her their newest signee? “I think that he’s brilliant,” Kelis says of the producer who’s worked with everyone from Michael Jackson to Rihanna. “As far as this generation goes, there’s not a single song that you can bring up to him or a reference or an artist or an era of music that he is not privy to or that he doesn’t understand.”

While she’s confidant in will.i.am’s vast knowledge, Kelis enjoys the fact that he’s not a bore. “He’s like a musical encyclopedia,” she reveals. “It makes it fun. He’s not afraid to push the limits and kinda go further than everyone else and that’s exciting. He still seems to be having fun doing it and that’s what it’s all about.”

–Georgette Cline