R Kelly - Untitled

“Untitled” is the ninth studio album by American R&B and Soul singer/songwriter, occasional rapper and record producer R. Kelly fully named Robert Sylvester Kelly, born January 8, 1967. R. Kelly is known for a collection of hit singles like ‘I Believe I Can Fly’, ‘Gotham City’, ‘Ignition’ and ‘The World’s Greatest’. He has also produced, written and performed on many tracks with/for other artists. Through the years R. Kelly dropped several albums with various styles and “Untitled” is one of them.

“Untitled” leaves me with mixed feelings to say the least! This is unfortunate, as I am one of R. Kelly’s most loyal fans.

The first song of the album is called ‘Crazy Night’ (ft. Rock City), a bad choice to start the album with as the auto-tune kills it. ‘Exit’, the second song on Untitled sounds way better but the album really kicks in third gear with ‘Echo’. The nice melody and the echo-filled yodel is quite fun but be prepared for lots of sex. ‘Bangin’ the Headboard’, track #4, just isn’t doing it for me.

‘Go Low’, the fifth song is the first song to fully get my attention and has a nice sound to it, but don’t expect too much of the lyrics here. As I would say: just enjoy and use your imagination! It is however quite funny how straight to the point Kelly can be with lyrics like: “Sex is like dope to me, so let’s get it cracking baby”. “Whole Lotta Kisses”, has this relaxed feel with jazzy influences. Remarkable about this song is the title ‘Whole Lotta Kisses’, it has been taken very literally...

‘Like I Do’, the seventh track is one of those songs that gets better once you listen to it more often. 'Number One (ft. Keri Hilson) is the first official single off of “Untitled”. It’s a relaxed song to listen to, Keri Hilson really adds to this to make it more complete. The ninth song is called: 'I Love The DJ', R&B and Dance joined together to make one hell of a track! The song is innovative and the vocals of R. Kelly are catchy. 'Supaman High' (ft. OJ Da Juiceman) is the tenth song. In one word: horrible! Why? Bad production and too chaotic, besides R. Kelly as a rapper is a real no go here. Number 11, 'Be My #2' gets you on the dance floor but the lyrics are as simple as can be. 'Text Me', is not catchy enough to keep my attention.

'Religious' is the thirteenth track on R. Kelly’s ninth and well well well, finally a song that reminds me of R. Kelly’s previous work. This is the R. Kelly I used to know. 'Religious' is a nice song with great lyrics, a type of song that could be dedicated to a girl as the following lines are just amazing: “there’s something religious about you (I wanna testify), there’s something church about you, I just wanna tell the world that you’re my girl.”

'Elsewhere', the fourteenth song is a sad song that seems out of place between the other songs, it’s a nice ballad though.

Last, but not least there’s the song 'Pregnant' (ft. Tyrese, Robin Thicke & The Dream). First of all, a great selection of artists and the sentence: “Girl You Make Me Wanna Get You Pregnant” is a real one-liner. The voice of Robin Thicke just sounds terrific. 'Pregnant' is a great finish to this album!

"Untitled" is certainly not Kelly’s masterpiece. Lyrically the album is not as strong as it could be but there are enough different flavors here -- of which "sex" is an important one, which is definitely not surprising -- to accommodate a wide range of listeners, so there's something here for almost everyone. In short: "Untitled" is just an album to enjoy and relieve your mind. An album with its highlights as well as an album that could use some improvements, but R. Kelly wouldn’t be R. Kelly if this album would be similar to his previous ones. Grab a copy for yourself and go experience it!

R Kelly's "Untitled" in stores December 1st 2009.

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