The success of Tasty landed Kelis on Britney Spears' The Onyx Hotel Tour. As the opening act, Kelis was able to expand her audience, by performing in front of a mainstream, pop-loving audience. Kelis' growing base was evidenced by the top performance of her fourth album, Kelis Was Here (LaFace/Jive, 2006), on Billboard's Hot 200 chart.

Despite the album's strong opening sales, Kelis Was Here failed to be certified gold, although the album's lead single, "Bossy," garnered multi-platinum sales, a rare feat for any artist. Follow-up singles, "Blindfold Me" and "Lil' Star" received little to no radio airplay in the United States. "Lil' Star" topped the U.K. R&B Singles Chart, however, and became her fourth top three single in the United Kingdom. Kelis Was Here eventually received critical praise in the United States, with the album receiving a GRAMMY nomination for Best Contemporary R&B Album. In spite of eventual industry approval, Jive Records dropped Kelis in late October 2007, due to poor sales of Kelis Was Here.

Kelis' departure from Jive closes yet another tortuous chapter in her prolific and innovative musical career. To date, none of Kelis' albums have been able to generate platinum sales, even though she was able to generate multiple sizable hits. Her continued success in Europe is evidence of her aesthetic brilliance and the release of The Hits (Star Trak/Jive/Legacy, 2008) highlights her unbridled experimentations within the R&B genre.

Hopefully, in time, the career of Kelis will be treated with much more care. For now, all one can do is cherish Kelis' Hits, for this compilation is the closest any contemporary R&B artist has come to exploring the outer limits of the genre.