Singer Kelis Arrested After Making Racial Slurs to Police

Singer Kelis was arrested early Friday morning (March 2, 2007) in Miami Beach making racial slurs at two undercover police officers.

According to the police report, the two female officers were working an undercover operation in South Beach as prostitutes. The singer started screaming racial obscenities at the women and was immediately restrained by her friends. As stated in the report, Kelis' "actions caused people walking by to stop and form a crowd. The sidewalk was blocked by the disturbance, causing people to walk in the street and causing traffic to stop."

The 27 year old singer and wife to rapper Nas was detained at 4:30am and charged with two misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and for resisting arrest without violence.

Kelis, whose last name is Rogers-Jones, was taken to Miami-Dade County Jail, where she was later released on a $1,500 bail bond.

Kelis was born and raised in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, New York. Her first name, pronounced [kə ˈleese], is a combination of the name of her father - Kenneth, an African-American jazz musician and a Pentecostal minister - and of her mother - Eveliss, a Chinese-Puerto Rican fashion designer, who inspired her to pursue her singing career.

As a child, she sang in church choirs and played violin, piano, and saxophone while attending Manhattan Country School, a private school. Kelis left home at age thirteen, but continued her education at age sixteen when she went to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she formed R&B trio BLU (Black Ladies United). After graduation, she formed a band with The Neptunes and, with their support, landed herself a record deal.