R Kelly's 12 Play Album Essay

Contemporary R&B is a genre of music that incorporates styles from other genres such as hip-hop, blues, soul, jazz, gospel, pop and electronic dance music. The category is R&B, and it began in the late 1970's when electronic elements were integrated into the background of black music to produce a dance-friendly tune. Quincy Jones and Micheal Jackson did this. The 1980's saw the inclusion of elements of funk, disco, and rap into R&B. The same era saw the massive integration of Rap into R&B by using the styles, sound effects, and percussion of hip-hop. New jack swing refers to the mix of rhythm and blues with hip-hop which was pioneered by Tedd Riley and was very popular in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Legends of R&B include Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Usher, Mariah Carey and R Kelly.

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Robert Sylvester Kelly is an American R&B singer who has produced a total of 12 solo studio albums and has been recognized by Billboard as one of the most successful R&B artists in the last quarter century. He is the named King of R&B. He began his career as part of a group titled Public Announcement. The group produced its first album called 'Born into the 90's'. R Kelly branched off solo and produced his first studio album known as 12play on November 9, 1993. Jive Records released the album, and it was a huge success. The album was position two on the US Billboard top 200, and it topped the R&B albums charts for nine weeks. The album sales were high, and it went Platinum in the United States and Gold in Canada. The genre of music in the album include R&B, soul, hip-hop, G-funk, new Jack swing and hip-hop soul. The album includes a total of 12 songs. The inspiration behind the creation of 12 Play album began while R Kelly was on touring with Glenn Jones and Gerald Levert. He was the opening act for their show, and he was somewhat unsatisfied with the empty seats and lack of enthusiasm during his performance. He then decided to engage the audience more by making a skit titled 12 Play. This 12 Play gimmick became so popular, and there was such high demand for it that R Kelly made an album.

The incorporation of different styles in the album makes it a great masterpiece suitable for various occasions. R Kelly and his writers masterfully and intently wrote the lyrics to arouse emotion in the listener. The album is magnificent as he gets personal and seems to speak directly to the listener. R Kelly's inspiration behind creating 12 Play was to engage with his audience and to entice them and transport them into another setting. R Kelly comes off as a profoundly intimate man who loves to express his desires and feelings. Majority of the songs have a sexual theme but the album talks of lovemaking in a different light. Majority of the time carnal songs showcase the raw, animalistic, rough side of sex. Male musicians typically express their desires and their own experiences of sex in a less romantic manner. 12 Play the album, however, is entirely different. The singer takes his time to show the slow, gentle, romantic aspect of lovemaking. The woman, her body, her desires become the primary focus of the singer, and he appreciates sexuality of the female body. Though the songs are quite romantic, there are also highly sexually provocative words used and the singer is seemingly shameless and uninhibited in fully expressing himself to his lover. Examples of such lyrics include "your body is my playground let me lick you up and down, let me make you feel like a woman should," (Easlea). He woos his lover by using playful phrases like "nothing wrong with a little bump and grind," bragging of his sexual prowess, coaxing her into saying her deepest desires (Easlea).

The theme of deep unconditional love for his partner also cuts across, and R Kelly also is uninhibited in showing his deep affection for his lover. Songs such as, "homie lover friend" and "for you" express how deeply in love and committed he is to the lover. The singer appreciates the woman for other aspects other than sexuality. He appreciates her friendship, her words and her loyalty to him. He understands her sufferings, sympathizes with her past romantic pain and pledges his love to her. It is quite a paradox due to the highly sexually charged nature of other songs on the same album. However, just as in the sex songs, the love songs also go to great depths to express emotion. 12 Play also contains songs that have other themes other than love and sex. Songs such as "back to the hood of things' and 'Sadie' showcase the artist's past life and issues he struggled to overcome. Sweet Sadie is a dedication to his deceased mother in which he shows how much he loves and misses his mother.

The album is a collection of different genres suitable for diverse occasions. Songs such as 'your body calling,' 'sex me,' 'it seems like you are ready' and 'for you' are slow rhythmic songs which set a relaxing, seductive tone. They have subtle beats, smooth sound effects and are great for setting a romantic mood. They are slow calming songs, yet the lyrics contain such highly sexually provocative words as seen mainly in the song 'sex me.' These slow beats reveal the gentle and romantic side of the lover yet the words showcase his lust and his ferociousness. They appeal both to the romantic and sexual aspects of a woman. Songs such as freak dat body and homie lover friend employ the new Jack swing style to achieve the intended mood, tone, and theme. They are R&B songs with background hip-hop beats and feature rappers in the songs. They have higher upbeat and faster rhythm suitable for dancing. The album also contains hip-hop songs with a speedier tune and deeper beats such as back to the hood of things and summer bunnies. The instrumentals, especially the drum set, produce a rhythm danceable to by the listener.

12 Play was a far better album than Born into the 90's both in style and production wise. The most captivating part of the record is that it is authentically R Kelly. At a time, when people shied away from sex talk, R Kelly boldly produced an entire album about sex. This album changed the R&B genre forever. The songs do not hide behind metaphors or try to tone down reality. R Kelly puts it plainly that he is talking about sex and he does not shy away from using extremely descriptive words. He has no limitations on what he talks about in his craft. His vocals and relaxing crescendos are superb, and the passion for his work is evident. He can change from talking about naughty, secretive sexual adventures to talking about pure love and makes both of them sound very sensual. R Kelly's stamps the entire album with his deep rich vocals, writing, and masterful production. He is one who loves to engage the audience through directly posing questions at them. The style of contradiction is not a new concept in soul music. Marvin Gaye sang about pure, sincere, spiritual love in one album and after some years he produced Let's Get it On where he talks explicitly about lovemaking. 12 Play is an album full of contradiction in many different ways. First, it contains songs of very erotic and sexual nature and other songs of deep emotional meaning. Even the arrangement of the songs on the album further brings out the paradox where a deep soul tune succeeds an erotic song.

12 Play redefined R&B music back in the day, and many more artists became bold enough to put out more profound music. After this debut album, R Kelly went on to release even better songs with better acoustics, stronger vocals and broader expression of his feelings and emotions. He defines himself as the unreconstructed-romantic lover with a sincere appreciation for women. He has a mostly female audience mostly because of his many iconic romantic songs such as "When a woman loves," "step in the name of love" and the mini film music video series "Trapped in the closet." He has continued to release hit songs with sexual themes such as "ignition," "am a flirt," "slow wind" and many others. He presents himself as a lover who is bold enough to express all his dirty thoughts and perverse desires to his lover. He can do this by producing slow blues with romantic tunes and also with songs with faster danceable rhythm such as "step in the name of love" and "snake." Apart from releasing great love songs, he has also been a genius at producing soul music that is full of deep meaning and inspiration. The most famous soul R Kelly songs include "the world's greatest," "storm is over" and "I believe I can fly." He even produced the famous gospel song "you saved me." The songs have strong lyrics intended to give hope and inspiration to his listeners. He has impeccable crescendos and great vocals, and he knows just where to apply them for even better sound impact in the song. Although he is an R&B artist, he has not limited himself to the genre. Instead, he borrows styles from other genres especially hip hop. He has produced hit club songs and iconic love songs. The characteristic feature in all his songs is the sincerity, straightforwardness, honesty, and intimacy of the artist. R Kelly pours out his soul into his music, and his unmatched vocals help bring the dramatic flair to his music. Few artists have dared to bare their souls out on their songs as Robert Kelly has done. The 12 Play album is a mirror of R Kelly's works and future music. It was just the beginning of the artist's legendary career in which he maintained his authenticity and straightforwardness. The album also inspired many artists to take risks and be bold enough to express themselves through their music.

Works Cited

Easlea, Daryl. "R. Kelly 12 Play Review." BBC, n.d., www.bbc.co.uk. Accessed 3 March, 2018.

The Top 10 best R. Kelly songs." axs.com, n.d., www.axs.com. Accessed 3 March, 2018.

Vaughn, Kenya. "The Buffet Tour a gluttonous presentation of R Kelly's greatest hits." StlAmerican, 30 April 2016, www.stlamerican.com. Accessed 3 March, 2018.

Vogel, Evan. "Throwback Thursday Review: 12 Play/RKelly." The Early Registration, n.d., www.theearlyregistration.com. Accessed 3 March, 2018.

Young, Alex. "R. Kelly - 12 Play: Fourth Quarter." Consequences Found, n.d., www.consequencesofsound.net. Accessed 3 March, 2018.