“Milkshake” is a song by American singer Kelis from her third studio album, Tasty (2003). Written and produced by the Neptunes, it was released as the lead single from Tasty in the United States on August 25, 2003, by Star Trak and Arista Records, and internationally on November 24, 2003. According to Kelis, “milkshake” in the song is used as a metaphor for “something that makes women special”. The song is noted for its euphemistic chorus and low-beat R&B sound.
“Milkshake” peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 in December 2003, becoming Kelis’ highest-charting single to date. Elsewhere, the single topped the charts in Ireland and peaked inside the top 10 of the charts in Australia, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. “Milkshake” was certified Gold in the United States, where it has sold 883,000 paid downloads. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2004.
In 2023, Kelis released “Milkshake 20” (Alex Wann Remix), which she co-produced.
The music video for “Milkshake” was directed by Jake Nava.[44] In the video, Kelis enters a diner called Tasty’s Yard. She dances suggestively, and puts her lips around a cherry, which causes a mother to cover her child’s eyes. A cook, played by rapper Nas, starts delivering milkshakes to the customers while Kelis dances. A milkshake machine then starts spurting milkshake all over the customers, and more and more people enter the “yard”.[9] FHM named the music video the 73rd sexiest music video by a female performer of all time and commented: “Here she’s backed up by a posse of dancers wearing tiny diner uniforms. The way she sucks a milkshake and bites a cherry is just unfairly sexy”, and said that the best part is when Kelis demonstrates a “perfect bending-over-oven technique”.
