[ No. 25 ]
"R" Kelly
by Cyclone Wehner
Robert Kelly has emerged as one of R&B's more gifted male figures
in recent times, but he has chosen to maintain a low media profile.
While his new double-album, "R", was surely among the most highly-anticipated
holiday season issues, Kelly has limited his interviews to a handful
of glossies ("XXL", "Ebony" and "Arena") and the UK's Radio One,
on which he opened up a little to Trevor Nelson. It is this latter
interview that is happily circulating among those less fortunate
pop hacks who are desperately trying to probe the mind of the 90s
Marvin Gaye.
There are many reasons for such reticence. For one, Kelly, 29, is
genuinely shy. He admits to Nelson that the fame does get to him.
And his way of dealing with the lifestyle is unconventional. 'Sometimes
I just sleep in the closet.' Kelly's private life has been closely
scrutinised at least once. A few years back "Vibe" magazine published
what it purported to be a marriage certificate proving Kelly's elopement
with his underage protege Aaliyah. The scandal blew over. Neither
party has ever spilled any beans. And, whatever went down, it hasn't
set back their careers. (The Detroit-raised Aaliyah is now down
with the platinum crew of Timbaland and Missy Elliott, and has been
romantically linked to Ginuwine of "Pony" fame.) Still, as "XXL"
lately revealed, the subject clearly pains Kelly.
Kelly hails from the projects of Chicago's South Side, where he
and his siblings were raised by their mother (he's never really
known his father). Timid in his early years, Kelly discovered his
twin talents in school: basketball and music. Eventually it was
the latter that became the priority, as Kelly's talents were nurtured
by his responsive music teacher, Lena McLin. Indeed, she was the
one who most clearly predicted his career path. What she saw in
Kelly was the next Stevie Wonder.
Kelly started his professional career as a busker in the streets
of the Windy City. He formed a swing group that would come to be
known as Public Announcement, and they landed a deal. But Kelly
was destined to be a solo act, and by the time his mature third
album, "R Kelly", came out, he was just that. Gradually, Kelly has
evolved from being yet another New Jack Swinger into a multi-dimensional
soulster.
Kelly has an uncanny knack of understanding the modern female perspective.
"R" shows that it is love that drives Kelly. Women preoccupy him.
But he feels an intense guilt for not always being a worthy enough
partner ("When A Woman's Fed Up", "Don't Put Me Out"). 'I know what
they're talking about, because they're always screaming in my ear
-- they need to spend more time ... they think I'm cheating a round,
which sometimes I was [laughs]. I mean, that happened. I'm human
and I made mistakes. My music is my way of saying I'm sorry. It's
my way of saying I'm trying to be better. It's my way of saying
forgive me. It's my way of saying let's make love and just make
up.'
And yet, this innate ability to empathise has seen Kelly write,
produce, and sometimes even contribute vocals to, a series of remarkable
songs for others: Michael Jackson ("You Are Not Alone"); Changing
Faces ("GHETTOUT"); Mary J Blige ("It's On"); Toni Braxton ("I Don't
Want To"); and his latest female discovery Sparkle ("Be Careful").
Kelly has also made memorable appearances on The Notorious BIG's
tongue-in-cheek "Fuckin' You Tonight" and Kelly Price's cathartic
"Friend Of Mine" remix. No wonder Kelly is for many the street Babyface.
Songwriting has become almost a compulsion for him. 'I used to be
obsessed with writing and making music. Now it's who I am, it's,
like, I walk it. I'm married to it. It just comes to me. I don't
even mess with it anymore. I used to sit down at the piano and try
to figure it out; try to figure out what my next song is and try
to write it. But, man, it's so auto, it's so natural now. It's just
when I wake up sometimes, I wake up out of my sleep, and there's
a song. I get awakened by a song, you know. It messes with me; just
haunts me sometimes -- and I welcome it with open arms. I love it.
It's just like you can get hit in a certain spot on your body so
much it becomes numb. So that's how writing is for me. I feel like
it's just as I breathe.'
It's ironic, then, that an artist who has struck at the heart of
90s soul should have won a trinity of Grammies for his most pop
moment -- the inspirational "I Believe I Can Fly" from the "Space
Jam" soundtrack. But it's possibly to Kelly's credit that "R" contains
any number of far worthier contenders: the soulful "One Man"; Sam
Cooke-like "If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time"; gospel "Looking
For Love" ... 'I didn't set out to specifically do a double-album
at all. I said to myself, "I'm gonna let this album come to me."
That's why I took a while. I said, "I'm gonna let it come to me
and see what happens ... let the songs hit me." I usually search
for the song; try to find a little pop song; try to go into an R&B
song; try to do THIS type of song to satisfy everybody. But this
album came to me, man. It's like it just never stopped. I just kept
writing. And the record company was like, "Man, when are we gonna
put the album out? If you keep writing, we can't put the album out.
You've gotta start making some decisions and select the tracks."
I said, "Man, I don't want ANY of these songs to come off the album,
because I feel them all -- and if you feel them all, you don't wanna
lose any." I wasn't saying anything about them all being hit records
or anything, but I FELT them all. So the company finally admitted,
"We're talking about a double-album here."'
"R" stands as Kelly's most definitive work to date, straddling pop,
R&B, swing, soul, gospel, hip-hop, blues ... He offers songs for
the jeep ("We Ride"), dancefloor (the Puff Daddy co-produced "Spendin'
Money") and bedroom ("Half On A Baby"). There are guests galore,
encompassing everyone from today's hip-hop aristocracy -- Jay-Z,
Noreaga and Nas -- to pop enchantress Celine Dion to the neo-soul
street diva Sparkle, the first act to emerge on Kelly's new label,
Rockland. 'Everything you're hearing is me,' Kelly concludes. 'The
fun part, the partying part, the wrong, the right, the sad, the
happy. Everything is in this album. I didn't know it was like that
as it was happening, but once it was all over with, I looked back
on it, and that's just what it was. It was my face.'
"R" is out through Liberation.
