R Kelly Love Letters......Houston we have a problem !

[paladin]

I am having a really hard time finding something positive to say about R Kelly's album Love Letters.

Most of the knowledgeable and accepted mainstream media critics and fans are certainly impressed with this effort from one of Chicago's Most famous soul balladeers. I bought this album the other day and I really wasn't impressed. I guess I was influenced by the thread about great soul albums of 2010 and I couldn't even list ten albums of new music that I bought in 2010. Maybe I'm just getting to the point where I'm just tired of the same shhh being recycled over and over, maybe I've just grown up and out of this particular artist. Whatever that feeling is I don't like it and I really don't like this CD. I'll try to tell you why and if I fail to convey those feelings feel free to jump in and help me out with your own observations. I know what bothers me and I shall try to elaborate.....

1. The album cover, No, no, no, R Kelly you are not Stevie Wonder.

2. You are not Raphael Saadiq, he dressed and went retro a couple of years ago with a smoking CD that sounded quite fresh and invigorating but original.

3. Even though there were several people here at SDF who posted your video of When a Woman Loves and extolled its virtues, you are not Jackie Wilson or Percy Sledge.

4. You, Mr. Kelly are not Marvin Gaye ! and you should be sued for remaking "Just To Keep You Satisfied" as "Music Must be a Lady".......thats really low class.....including those half azz backgrounds.....a total rip off........

4a. Didn't I say that you were not Marvin Gaye ? What part of that sentence didn't you understand ? Oh I get it, you go get a Tammi Terrell sound a like and make a record called "Love Is", that tries to capture what Marvin and Tammi did ....I don't think so.......

5. Ok so you dedicated a record to your mentor and hero Michael Jackson, "You are not Alone".......but did you have to put those insidious and annoying MJ hiccups into another record on the album ? Wasn't one enough ?

Dam dog you even had some copious and encoded liner notes that said:

Dear Ladies, Dear Ladies, Its your boy January
And I would like to welcome all of you to the Love Letter Album
Now this album is dedicated to the "girls" who stood beside me
And even all the bootleggers who couldn't afford to buy me
Even the ones that want to have my baby
This is my Love Letter to You.....

Nope folks I ain't touching that one.........and yes he sings it on the album too!

Now there are a couple of R Kelly songs that are instantly identifiable and forgettable....and they sound pretty good in a Step In The Name of love sort of way.

Then again Maybe I'm just getting old, or maybe he's gotten to the point where he really don't give a dam and after getting rid of the braids and thugz [[ Jahiem did too! ), he's trying to be a singer...oh well what the hell do I know ? Guess he called the image police. He is after all a very talented singer and writer, I just wish he'd do something along the lines of Stevie, Jackie or Marvin that we could discuss and debate the greatness that lies within........oh well.....what the hell do I know ?

[GeeTee(HPK)]

#1. I'm not a fan
#2. That CD cover I have a problem with.
#3. Will never forget what he's done in the past to young girls. [[Not women)
#4. Raphael Saadiq already covered the 60s soul retro vibe,so nothing new there.
#5. [[and I'm saying this nicely) I can can less what R. Kelly puts out today, tomorrow or 10 years from now ! DONE !

[catwoman55]

Paladin,

I've only heard 1 cut from this CD in passing [[on someone else's radio, of course) - probably the single that you mentioned above where R-uh goes into Jackie Wilson mode. When I heard some phrasing that sounded like someone trying to imitate the inimitable [[sp?) Jackie Wilson, I was like, WTF??? Then, the DJ said it was R-uh, and I thought, "That figures..." Needless to say, I was NOT impressed.

Anyway, I will go with your assessment of this latest CD because I trust that you are telling the truth. I've never been a fan of this guy or his music, so whatever... But, what the hell kind of nerve does this creep have to be costumed as Little Stevie Wonder on the cover??? R-uh may have consulted the image police, here, but, to me, he represents the SOS-same day, if y'all can dig THAT, underneath it all. Those liner notes you quoted told the tale, my friend.

At any rate, folks, there are some other folks out here - black and otherwise - who are doing a much better job at honoring classic, soul music in the CD's they are releasing. But, the main thing is that those people come across as SINCERE - sincere is the operative word, here. To me, R-uh is still the you-know-what that my daddy warned me and my sister about, decades ago, as a concerned father [[of only 2 girls) - if y'all get my drift.

Cat

[nomis]

yuck hes a creep..wouldnt listen to him if I was on a desert island with no other music..videotaping himself doing strange things to underage girls..disgusting...

[marv2]

Yikes!!!! Lol!

[jboy88]

IMHO it's not the best R. Kelly's put out, but at the same time he's done worse. my parents don't like the song either, they agree it was more like a '60s soul spoof than a tribute. I must admit, he'd make a great Jimmy Early in a stage production of "Dreamgirls"

[REDHOT]

Maybe i'm the only one,But i really like R.KELLY'S new cd LOVE LETTER.To me it seems like Mr.Kelly is giving tribute to the singers,he liked,when he was a kid,i don't know this for sure,it's just my guess.I think R.KELLY is one of the best singers of today.
Please stay positive

[skooldem1]

I was thinking about picking up his latest this weekend. How does it compare to "Chocolate Factory"? Anyone hear Aretha Franklin talking about Kelly yesterday? She said he is doing some sangin on his latest song. She says he is very talented and she may have to become a cougar.

[queenybee07]

I really like the cd. My favorite is When A Woman Loves. No he is no Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, but he has his own style which I appreciate.

[destruction]

"I just wish he'd do something along the lines of Stevie, Jackie or Marvin that we could discuss and debate the greatness that lies within........oh well.....what the hell do I know ? "

You may be on to something.....maybe he could put some beads in his hair....and disappear in Europe for a few years.

[GeeTee(HPK)]

Or just disappear !

[destruction]

like Jamerson's bass......the committee accepts your answer.....now phrase it in the form of a question.

[topdiva1]

I was thinking about picking up his latest this weekend. How does it compare to "Chocolate Factory"? Anyone hear Aretha Franklin talking about Kelly yesterday? She said he is doing some sangin on his latest song. She says he is very talented and she may have to become a cougar.

Was RERE still under heavy medication when she made these statements to Wendy Williams - I wonder - what the queen was really trying to cover up.

[arrr&bee]

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa,as for the album cover,just call him...little stevie blunder!!

[RossHolloway]

See I coulnd't tell if he was trying to be Stevie Wonder or a young Ray Charles on the cover. Either way, I'd still rather send $20 to the Sarah Palin Presidential fund than spend it buying a R. Kelly cd.

[daddyacey]

Mr Kelly.......
He has been a constant ironic musical figure for me in that I both dislike him and at the same time admire him. I dislike his persona ,yet at the same time have the understanding and acceptance of the fact that he is a deeply scensitive and troubled soul as was Marvin, whom I on the other hand love and respect dispite his demons.
Kelly has the amazing talent to emulate ,with class and respect ,the styles and personas of some of the true great artists of the soul/R&B classic era. There is no doubt that he is well educated and familiar with the stylings of the Motown era ,Philly era and icons such as Smokey ,Barry ,Curtis and others. He first pissed me off with the ,"Ohh ,Ohh ,Ohh Ohh Ohh Ohh Ohh ,line lifted from Lenny Williams classic track, on his own track. I on the other hand liked some of his original tracks that he made and the work he did with Michael and Ron Isley. His most current track immediaetly reminded me of Jackie Wilson. Emulated yes ,but respectfully done. My lady has bought the new CD ,but I have yet to review it other than the first two tracks ,so I reserve judgement on that. I do plan to check it out in its entirety ,eventually. I must give him credit for his live perfomance on the Soultrain Awards show. I just can't get off the fence about him though.

[midnightman]

Was RERE still under heavy medication when she made these statements to Wendy Williams - I wonder - what the queen was really trying to cover up.

I was just thinking about that...

[paladin]

He first pissed me off with the ,"Ohh ,Ohh ,Ohh Ohh Ohh Ohh Ohh ,line lifted from Lenny Williams classic track, on his own track. I on the other hand liked some of his original tracks that he made and the work he did with Michael and Ron Isley.

I agree DA and I was thinking along similar lines when I posted. I still regard his early work most notably "Your Body's Calling" as one of my all time favorite songs. I thought his composition and performance of "Up and Outta here" from the Shaft soundtrack as being simply phenomenal. I truly believe thats the conundrum I face when I reviewed his latest Lp. Sure his emulation of past artists is quite possibly a necessary evil in todays music world, I just get the nagging feeling that it's mostly a con job by a person who knows exactly what he's doing and why. Sure his song "When a Woman Loves" is a throwback, but so was his stellar recording of "When A Woman is Fed Up" yet his stylings were pure R Kelly. He is not the first artists to record songs in the "flavor of" and he certainly won't be the last, but in my opinion he'll never be able to pull the wool over my eyes by pretending to be someone he's not. Thanks again to all of you for your contributions to this thread, your viewpoints are important to me.

[timmyfunk]

#1. I'm not a fan
#2. That CD cover I have a problem with.
#3. Will never forget what he's done in the past to young girls. [[Not women)
#4. Raphael Saadiq already covered the 60s soul retro vibe,so nothing new there.
#5. [[and I'm saying this nicely) I can can less what R. Kelly puts out today, tomorrow or 10 years from now ! DONE !

Ditto! I couldn't agree more.

[daddyacey]

"a necessary evil in todays music world" , Well put paladin , and that's the source of the reason some people ,like us are a little put off by him. The fact that he emulates well ,the classic feel of R&B ,and some folks like us are weary of some one who has this talent ,that they be sincere about the way they use it.