Isn't it obvious? That was when he graced the public with his terrible songs. And exactly, newcomer in 93/94 - he hasn't even been around for 20 years and yet as far back as 10 years ago people were calling him a legend then.

I do get annoyed at certain people in the media throwing these terms around loosely. Or very young people not having any kind of idea about anything that happened before they turned 10 years old. It's like seeing 21 year olds labelling Britney Spears as some kind of legend now.

The R. lost me at TP.3 Reloaded, but I enjoy quite a lot of his material before that. Some favorites in rough chronological order:

She's Got That Vibe

Honey Love

Slow Dance

I Know What You Need

Dedicated

Sex Me (Part 1)

Bump N' Grind (Old School Mix and especially the How I Feel It video mix)

Your Body's Callin' (especially the His & Hers Mix with Aaliyah)

It Seems Like You're Ready

Summer Bunnies (remix with Aaliyah)

12 Play

Down Low (Nobody Has to Know) (especially the remix)

I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)

(You to Be) Be Happy

Hump Bounce

Tempo Slow

Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby

Trade in My Life

Gotham City

I Believe I Can Fly

Half on a Baby

When a Woman's Fed Up

If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time

Did You Ever Think (Remix with Nas)

I'm Your Angel

R&B Thug

The Greatest Sex

I Don't Meant It

Fiesta (and remix)

I Wish

I Mean (I Don't Mean It)

Feelin' on Yo Booty (and remixes)

Step in the Name of Love (Remix)

Ignition (Remix)

You Knock Me Out

Imagine That

Thoia Thoing

Touched a Dream

The World's Greatest

Happy People

For my money, his strongest albums are TP2.com and R. Kelly followed by probably Chocolate Factory.

Ellie said:

Isn't it obvious? That was when he graced the public with his terrible songs. And exactly, newcomer in 93/94 - he hasn't even been around for 20 years and yet as far back as 10 years ago people were calling him a legend then.

His debut dropped in '92, which makes this his 20th year in the business.

R. Kelly is talented, but just like a pretty woman, who has a nasty personality,his talent is overshadowed by his vices and bad decisions. As a song writer he is one of the smartest I know. He can write a song that will make you get up and shake your rump and the in an instant, write a song, that will apppeal to the "Lite-FM", crowd. That being said, calling a legend, is a bit of a stretch.

shorttrini said:

R. Kelly is talented, but just like a pretty woman, who has a nasty personality,his talent is overshadowed by his vices and bad decisions. As a song writer he is one of the smartest I know. He can write a song that will make you get up and shake your rump and the in an instant, write a song, that will apppeal to the "Lite-FM", crowd. That being said, calling a legend, is a bit of a stretch.

This is what I think makes him such an interesting figure and why I am curious to see how he will be seen as time passes. I guess R. Kelly is one of those artists who people have strong opinions about. Some think he is very talented; some think he is minimally talented; some think he's a legend; some think he is a hack. What is fact is that he has had much success and controversy in his two decades in the biz. His story seems ripe for a bio pic.

Side note:

I forgot how much I liked "Trade in My Life." That song was right there at the forefront of the new sound of contemporary Gospel/Inspirational songs that crossed over to the RnB crowd.

AlexdeParis said:

Ellie said:

Isn't it obvious? That was when he graced the public with his terrible songs. And exactly, newcomer in 93/94 - he hasn't even been around for 20 years and yet as far back as 10 years ago people were calling him a legend then.

His debut dropped in '92, which makes this his 20th year in the business.

Public Announcement dropped in 91.

Ellie said:

Isn't it obvious? That was when he graced the public with his terrible songs. And exactly, newcomer in 93/94 - he hasn't even been around for 20 years and yet as far back as 10 years ago people were calling him a legend then.

I do get annoyed at certain people in the media throwing these terms around loosely. Or very young people not having any kind of idea about anything that happened before they turned 10 years old. It's like seeing 21 year olds labelling Britney Spears as some kind of legend now.

R. Kelly has been around since 1989/1990. He was doing New Jack Swing with a group called MGM -

KoolEaze said:

This cover version is quite funny:

Bounce , bounce, bounce baby. Bounce! And the singer even looks like R.Kelly, too.

Will Oldham is a big R. Kelly fan. He was actually in Trapped in the Closet and also had the opportunity to interview him for Interview magazine February issue. Really good interview that shows a different side to R. Kelly.

trueiopian said:

R. Kelly has been around since 1989/1990. He was doing New Jack Swing with a group called MGM -

Still doesn't change the fact that people were calling him a legend 10 years ago. It's like calling Prnce a legend in the 80s, and even then that could have been arguable with him as he'd achieved more in 5 years than R Kelly has in 20.

Ellie said:

trueiopian said:

R. Kelly has been around since 1989/1990. He was doing New Jack Swing with a group called MGM -

Still doesn't change the fact that people were calling him a legend 10 years ago. It's like calling Prnce a legend in the 80s, and even then that could have been arguable with him as he'd achieved more in 5 years than R Kelly has in 20.

There were people that have been calling him a legend for his respective genre since 12 Play 1993/1994 because he was remixing, writing and producing not just for himself but for other big name artists at the time. But at the same time there were people that felt he was a one-trick pony that only sang about sex. He managed to prove them wrong with a more mature album in 1995.

I'm not a fan.

For those who are , Mr. Kelly was interviewed this month in the pages of "Interview" magazine.

P.S. I didn't see your link "true...." my bad.

==============

[Edited 3/13/11 15:26pm]

trueiopian said:

KoolEaze said:

This cover version is quite funny:

Bounce , bounce, bounce baby. Bounce! And the singer even looks like R.Kelly, too.

Will Oldham is a big R. Kelly fan. He was actually in Trapped in the Closet and also had the opportunity to interview him for Interview magazine February issue. Really good interview that shows a different side to R. Kelly.

Thanks a lot for that link, that is really an interesting interview.

trueiopian said:

Ellie said:

Isn't it obvious? That was when he graced the public with his terrible songs. And exactly, newcomer in 93/94 - he hasn't even been around for 20 years and yet as far back as 10 years ago people were calling him a legend then.

I do get annoyed at certain people in the media throwing these terms around loosely. Or very young people not having any kind of idea about anything that happened before they turned 10 years old. It's like seeing 21 year olds labelling Britney Spears as some kind of legend now.

R. Kelly has been around since 1989/1990. He was doing New Jack Swing with a group called MGM -

Dude been knicking off Aaron Hall forever.

Robert Townsend was on a TVO Special a few weeks back and said Robert and his group (don't know if it was the MGM guys or Public Announcement, or are they the same group) auditioned for the Five Heartbeats but the chick that song We Havent Finished Yet got the spot over him.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

trueiopian said:

R. Kelly has been around since 1989/1990. He was doing New Jack Swing with a group called MGM -

Dude been knicking off Aaron Hall forever.

Robert Townsend was on a TVO Special a few weeks back and said Robert and his group (don't know if it was the MGM guys or Public Announcement, or are they the same group) auditioned for the Five Heartbeats but the chick that song We Havent Finished Yet got the spot over him.

He was trying to be Bobby Brown back then, not that dog whisperer.

Ellie said:

My loathing of him started in 1994 and then heightened in 1995 with You Are Not Alone (IT'S THE SAME 5 NOTES IN THE SAME ORDER OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN THE VERSES AND CHORUS).

Again, he can't be criticised or praised for the melody because he didn't write it.

In 2007, a Belgium court ruled that R. Kelly had plagiarized the 1993 song "If We Can Start All Over" when composing "You Are Not Alone". The court transferred rights of Jackson's hit to the twin composer brothers, Eddy and Danny Van Passel. The judgment is only recognized in Belgium and airplay of the hit has been banned in that nation.