Shocking news: Just because R&B is terrible doesn't mean it always has to be.

I know! It was a surprise for me, too. I mean, I get down with D'Angelo and Erykah Badu and those folks, but those cats are so self-consciously retro.

I'm talking new R&B -- you know, Jagged Edge and Sisqo and R. Kelly, all that nonsense about "my lady" and such. You know what De La Soul used to call R&B back in the day, don't you? Well, uh, it wasn't nice, anyway.

But you see, back in the day, there was Marvin and Aretha and Curtis Mayfield and Stevie Wonder; you know, people who could sing songs that'd make you feel something other than, well, whatever Ashanti is supposed to make you feel (like changing stations, mostly). What they made was music. Music that, 30 years after the fact, people still love.

Kelis is no Aretha Franklin. But in 30 years, Tasty, her latest, is still going to be a very cool record.

Kelis, best known up until a couple months ago as either Nas's girlfriend or that girl who sings the "I hate you so much right now" song, makes real R&B music.

She's always seemed like the odd woman out of pop-R&B: too talented to play it straight, too unique to look only backward for inspiration. And the very impressive Tasty really is the sound of a step forward in R&B; it's a futuristic, funky soul album that makes everything else in that tired genre seem, well, tasteless.

First things first: Tasty is hot.

If you happen to get back to your place after an evening of lonely contemplation (or heavy drinking) this Valentine's Day and find "Milkshake" rattling through your locked door, there's a good chance your roommate and whomever he or she has in there would prefer to be left alone. Kelis has boys on the brain, and Tasty's grinding beats and her effortless cooing suggest something like a feminine counterpart to, say, Prince's Dirty Mind or Andre 3000's The Love Below. Subtlety is not to be found here, but even on a song like "In Public," things never get too raunchy.

Tasty's greatest strength is its willingness to both innovate and give respect to the past. The Neptunes-penned "Protect My Heart" could've been a hit for Chaka Khan back in '89, but the stuttering beat of the sing-along "Trick Me" is light years beyond anything on the radio these days.

The producers deserve a lot of the credit for Tasty's success, but Kelis' stylish, singular delivery turns what might've been just another electrofunk record (like, say, Justified) into something much cooler.

To be fair, not every song is a gem, and Kelis's easygoing vocals can seem a little range-less on the slower tunes. And, yeah, even the best Neptunes' beats in a very long while can sound kind of similar after a couple listens.

But all told, Tasty's reach is so far beyond what's expected of modern R&B that it hardly has to be perfect. There's a major new player in the game, and her name is Kelis. Watch her while she changes everything.