| Whatever you think of the soppy albeit inspirational 1997 hit , "I Wish I Could Fly", there is no doubt that R Kelly is the best smutty R&B (as well as the biggest selling) singer/composer of the 90s. Like an angel indulging in phone sex, Kelly has crafted a career as soulful sex machine with a voice to match. Author of Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" as well as a string of hits for Celine Dion, Aaliyah and Puff Daddy, Kelly transcended his humble beginnings as a Bobby Brown clone with his overtly sexual second album 12 Play, released in 1993. Although TP-2.com marks a slight departure from his previous offerings, the material still concentrates on his usual themes: love, sex and the loss of his beloved mother. Although some of his contemporaries have been praised for working with innovative and stark hip-hop arrangements, Kelly's cross-generational appeal is reflected in his ability to sing histrionic, overblown spiritual ballads and explicitly sexual material without contradiction. So on TP.2.com he delivers a few irreverent bump & hustle anthems as well as swooning declarations to both his lovers and late mother, and it doesn't break the flow. Armed with fantastic ballads like "I Wish" and weepy string-laden tearjerkers like "The Storm Is Over Now" (complete with a delightful children's choir), TP-2.com is Kelly in A-list singing heaven. There are many highlights on this 19-track album: "Strip For You" does exactly that, as Kelly gives his girl a strip-tease over stark beats; "Fiesta", a sensual and lyrically fascinating track, takes social and sexual athletics to new heights; while the (for Kelly) atypical "Like a Real Freak", with its fusion of Spanish guitar, urban percussion and dirty talk, works favourably. TP-2.com is Kelly at his most confident and mature. It's not groundbreaking like D'Angelo, but so what? Kelly is a singer-composer who can move effortlessly and soulfully with the times. --Na'solo So Fahed |
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