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Last night I got the chance to attend Kelis‘ performance at Santos Party House in NYC. Without question, Kelis has not lost her touch. Although it’s been about four years since she released her last album, she moves and sounds as if she’s been practicing daily.

Before she stepped on stage a black sheet that displayed images from the video of her new single ‘Acapella’ along with a beating heart were shown, letting the crowd know she was about to start the show. Kelis got on stage and stood in front of the glowing microphone stand, starting her set off with a performance of ’22nd Century’ a new song off her upcoming album, Flesh Tone.

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Although the song was new, it definitely got the crowd hyped. Kelis then took it back, performing her hit ‘Millionaire.’ You wouldn’t know that Andre 3000 was absent from this performance, as the crowd sang word for word as Kelis boogied on stage. She then took it up a notch, performing her ‘Queen Of Hearts, Off With Their Heads’ version of ‘Bossy’ which got the crowd jumping and shouting.

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There was definitely a new feeling from Kelis as she kept the party rockin’ performing another new gem, ‘Fourth Of July,’ off her Flesh Tone album. Although many people in the audience weren’t familiar with the new track, the excitement and energy in the venue made it as if the song was a crowd favorite. Kelis even admitted herself, ‘You’ve got to bear with me, I’m playing new stuff. So it’s as new to me as it is to you.’

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Performing more tracks from her new album, ‘Already Home’ had the crowd jumping. Kelis quickly turned it back to classics like ‘Trick Me’ and the dance remix of ‘Get Along With You.’ DJ Rashida held it down on the 1’s & 2’s mixing Madonna’s ‘Holiday’ with ‘Milkshake’ which by far was the crowd favorite.

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With exploding confetti everywhere and Kelis in full BOSS mode, she owned the stage and closed out with her smash, ‘Acapella’ which was another song that the crowd sang along to, sending the energy through the roof. Once done with the track she thanked everyone for coming out to the show and left the stage. But the crowd didn’t get enough of Kelis as screams and chants for the singer made her come back on stage for an encore. She performed her classic ‘Get Along With You.’ Decked out in a red skirt with high black boots and a gold Egyptian-esque head piece, Kelis showed the audience that the ‘first girl to scream on a track’ can still hit those smooth soulful notes she was known for when she first came out.

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Are you going to get Kelis’ new album? What do you think of her new music?

Check me on Twitter @ImGlobalNow | Hip Hop Culture Editor