Caught Out There

Updated on Nov 29, 2023

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B-side "Suspended"		Recorded 1998
Released September 20, 1999 (1999-09-20) (U.S.) January 21, 2000 (2000-01-21) (Europe) Format CD single, 12" single, cassette single Genre R&B alternative hip hop Length 4:51 (Album Version) 3:35 (UK Radio Edit)

"Caught out There" is a song by American recording artist Kelis from her debut album, Kaleidoscope. Written and produced by the Neptunes, the song was released as the album's lead single to peak at number fifty-four on the Billboard Hot 100. "Caught out There" fared better outside the United States, peaking within the top ten of the charts in Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The song was used on MuchMusic's Shortest Weddings special. In 2009 the signature yell "I hate you so much right now" was used in the British children's television sitcom Hotel Trubble. The aforementioned signature yell was used in the Daria episode "Partner's Complaint", first aired February 25, 2000. It was also used in BBC3's Most Annoying People 2010, under Tony Blair (11 on the list). In 2011 the yell was used in a Calvin Klein ad for CK One. In 2010, the line "look, I found her red coat" was sampled extensively in the James Blake song "CMYK". Neptunes producer Pharrell Williams said in an interview that the instrumental track was originally meant for rapper Busta Rhymes who declined it.

Song information

In the song, sung in first person, rather than a direct second-person confrontation, she finds out her man has been unfaithful to her and after explaining that "I break" (she dumps him for his infidelity), she sings, first about all the things she has done for the man (verse one), laments about how unfair the infidelity is (verse two) and finally blows a fuse, complete with gun cock (verse three). At the end of each verse, she sings, "Because you're caught out there," urban slang for being caught with your pants down or to be busted for cheating. At the beginning of the chorus, she switches from a light-soul-jazz singing voice of the verses to belting out her frustration: "I hate you so much right now!" Kelis would refer to this song in "Bossy".

Music video

In the single's music video, directed by Hype Williams, Kelis, in her technicolor spiral afro, blond, gold, orange, red, and fuchsia hair, starts in a confessional style, before opening to the chorus where she rips up the living room. Afterwards, Kelis and a group of fed-up women boycott and picket men. Finally, as she sings, "Got something for y'all," a gun cock is heard and the video finishes by alluding to her exacting revenge for her former lover's infidelity.