"I believe I can fly

Smacked my head

On an open door

Knocked myself

Out on the floor..."

Like DL Hugley said about R. Kelly and Michael Jackson: They were great singers but terrible babysitters. I agree with the last part, at least.

R. Kelly/Teddy Riley/Babyface, sure not on a "Prince" level but very, very, very few are, and the general consensus of this forum is maybe zero (or maybe 1-2 depending on orger) post-1978.

Great songwriters though, and architects of central R&B cultural movements whether you think their songs suck or not... Certainly picked up the baton from Prince in the late 80s for better or for worse when he was kind of finding himself in the 90s.

At least R. Kelly has been prolific in every year and every decade since his debut, managed to stay contemporary, changed his style record-by-record, wrote/produced/arranged his entire records solo top to bottom, produced major hits for others, played most instrumental tracks on his records (usually all the keys/programming)... More insulting when some one-mode mumbler like D'Angelo gets Prince comparisons honestly.

[Edited 10/13/21 19:24pm]

.

[Edited 10/13/21 19:27pm]

WhisperingDandelions said:

RODSERLING said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

R. Kelly/Teddy Riley/Babyface, sure not on a "Prince" level but very, very, very few are, and the general consensus of this forum is maybe zero (or maybe 1-2 depending on orger) post-1978.

Great songwriters though, and architects of central R&B cultural movements whether you think their songs suck or not... Certainly picked up the baton from Prince in the late 80s for better or for worse when he was kind of finding himself in the 90s.

At least R. Kelly has been prolific in every year and every decade since his debut, managed to stay contemporary, changed his style record-by-record, wrote/produced/arranged his entire records solo top to bottom, produced major hits for others, played most instrumental tracks on his records (usually all the keys/programming)... More insulting when some one-mode mumbler like D'Angelo gets Prince comparisons honestly.

[Edited 10/13/21 19:24pm]

I agree, R Kelly is far more talented than D'Angelo. That being said, RK stayed too much on the modern rnb field to be considered as a genius. He didn't know anything about pop music.

As far as genius level Prince obviously but you also throw Stevie Wonder, MJ, and Maurice White

into that category as well. For me I would take DAngelo's 3 album work over RKelly's entire career.

I hated that damn 12 play album as some of the songs like Sex Me, I like The Crotch On You, and Bump and Grind were so sad and infantile. Then when you throw in his entanglement with

Aaliyah during this period it didn't take a Rhodes Scholar to figure out these songs were written with her in mind especially Seems Like You're Ready. This dude is human trash and it's hard for me to respect anyone trying to defend him. I'm not speaking of his music. It's certainly not my goal in life to stop people from listening or buying his music.

As for Kelly I only really dug his self titled album somewhat minus that dumb ass You Remind Me Of

A Jeep.

[Edited 10/14/21 14:35pm]

RODSERLING said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

R. Kelly/Teddy Riley/Babyface, sure not on a "Prince" level but very, very, very few are, and the general consensus of this forum is maybe zero (or maybe 1-2 depending on orger) post-1978.

Great songwriters though, and architects of central R&B cultural movements whether you think their songs suck or not... Certainly picked up the baton from Prince in the late 80s for better or for worse when he was kind of finding himself in the 90s.

At least R. Kelly has been prolific in every year and every decade since his debut, managed to stay contemporary, changed his style record-by-record, wrote/produced/arranged his entire records solo top to bottom, produced major hits for others, played most instrumental tracks on his records (usually all the keys/programming)... More insulting when some one-mode mumbler like D'Angelo gets Prince comparisons honestly.

[Edited 10/13/21 19:24pm]

I agree, R Kelly is far more talented than D'Angelo. That being said, RK stayed too much on the modern rnb field to be considered as a genius. He didn't know anything about pop music.

Oh yeah?

Not even this?

https://www.youtube.com/w...ABxUIB-uys

phunkdaddy said:

As far as genius level Prince obviously but you also throw Stevie Wonder, MJ, and Maurice White

into that category as well.

ya ya ya. Org uniformly agrees there's Prince-level geniuses that debuted pre-1978. It's post-1978 that causes controversy.

phunkdaddy said:

I hated that damn 12 play album as some of the songs like Sex Me, I like The Crotch On You, and Bump and Grind were so sad and infantile. Then when you throw in his entanglement with

Aaliyah during this period it didn't take a Rhodes Scholar to figure out these songs were written with her in mind especially Seems Like You're Ready. This dude is human trash and it's hard for me to respect anyone trying to defend him. I'm not speaking of his music. It's certainly not my goal in life to stop people from listening or buying his music.

As for Kelly I only really dug his self titled album somewhat minus that dumb ass You Remind Me Of

A Jeep.

[Edited 10/14/21 14:35pm]

Critiquing "infantile" lyrics on R&B trax? In the forum dedicated to the guy who wrote "Would rather do ya after school like some homework", "Makin' love 'til cherry's gone" and made the backing track of "I Love U in Me" a bedtime lullaby?

Even OG R&B greats like Thom Bell were hardly Faulkner with with lines like "Candyland appears each time you smile". It's uhhh, R&B not English Lit class.

Any way, who is "trying to defend him" exactly? Maybe one or two people in a YouTube comment box, handful of older fans on Lipstick Alley... otherwise the internet is pretty uniformly against Robert Sylvester Kelly in every and all facets which is why it's not even news that his music was scrubbed from YouTube despite the obvious implications it could have for future "cancelled" art.

[Edited 10/14/21 18:34pm]

CynicKill said:

RODSERLING said:

WhisperingDandelions said: I agree, R Kelly is far more talented than D'Angelo. That being said, RK stayed too much on the modern rnb field to be considered as a genius. He didn't know anything about pop music.

Oh yeah?

Not even this?

https://www.youtube.com/w...ABxUIB-uys

ehhhhhhh "Echo" was better recent pop track with the "yodeli-yodeli-yodeliheehooo" yodeling hook like he's on the Swiss alps.

https://www.youtube.com/w...M-Q-Xs-P8w

WhisperingDandelions said:

phunkdaddy said:

As far as genius level Prince obviously but you also throw Stevie Wonder, MJ, and Maurice White

into that category as well.

ya ya ya. Org uniformly agrees there's Prince-level geniuses that debuted pre-1978. It's post-1978 that causes controversy.

phunkdaddy said:

I hated that damn 12 play album as some of the songs like Sex Me, I like The Crotch On You, and Bump and Grind were so sad and infantile. Then when you throw in his entanglement with

Aaliyah during this period it didn't take a Rhodes Scholar to figure out these songs were written with her in mind especially Seems Like You're Ready. This dude is human trash and it's hard for me to respect anyone trying to defend him. I'm not speaking of his music. It's certainly not my goal in life to stop people from listening or buying his music.

As for Kelly I only really dug his self titled album somewhat minus that dumb ass You Remind Me Of

A Jeep.

[Edited 10/14/21 14:35pm]

Critiquing "infantile" lyrics on R&B trax? In the forum dedicated to the guy who wrote "Would rather do ya after school like some homework", "Makin' love 'til cherry's gone" and made the backing track of "I Love U in Me" a bedtime lullaby?

Even OG R&B greats like Thom Bell were hardly Faulkner with with lines like "Candyland appears each time you smile". It's uhhh, R&B not English Lit class.

Any way, who is "trying to defend him" exactly? Maybe one or two people in a YouTube comment box, handful of older fans on Lipstick Alley... otherwise the internet is pretty uniformly against Robert Sylvester Kelly in every and all facets which is why it's not even news that his music was scrubbed from YouTube despite the obvious implications it could have for future "cancelled" art.

[Edited 10/14/21 18:34pm]

Nah you have it all wrong. There are a throng of people on Youtube and Facebook defending him

and some of those are doing it in a peculiar way with excuses blaming the kids parents, other white men i.e Weinstein, Allen, Presley, etc., he was trying to buy his masters now they trying to destroy him. At what point does an adult realize he was a serial child molestor?

I don't know what social media you were watching but it's ridiculous to say only one or two people on Youtube were defending him when it is simply not true. I don't know maybe you are one of those fans who appreciated his music.

As for cancel culture too fucking bad if you are a serial child molester or rapist.

It is ridiculous however to remove a former NFL coach's name from a ring of honor ( Jon Gruden)

over comments he made in an email years ago although they were utterly ridiculous. You aren't gonna give back the Super Bowl trophy so why remove his name from a ring of honor. He didn't harm anybody physically and he isn't any longer employed by the Buccaneers and he had already removed himself from the league.

All them Song probably hit a little different now, except "Step In The Name Of Love"

RODSERLING said:

WhisperingDandelions said:

R. Kelly/Teddy Riley/Babyface, sure not on a "Prince" level but very, very, very few are, and the general consensus of this forum is maybe zero (or maybe 1-2 depending on orger) post-1978.

Great songwriters though, and architects of central R&B cultural movements whether you think their songs suck or not... Certainly picked up the baton from Prince in the late 80s for better or for worse when he was kind of finding himself in the 90s.

At least R. Kelly has been prolific in every year and every decade since his debut, managed to stay contemporary, changed his style record-by-record, wrote/produced/arranged his entire records solo top to bottom, produced major hits for others, played most instrumental tracks on his records (usually all the keys/programming)... More insulting when some one-mode mumbler like D'Angelo gets Prince comparisons honestly.

[Edited 10/13/21 19:24pm]

I agree, R Kelly is far more talented than D'Angelo. That being said, RK stayed too much on the modern rnb field to be considered as a genius. He didn't know anything about pop music.

R. Kelly is so talented it was a shame to see him lip-sync and girate at all of his shows. As a guy, I would never pay to see R. Kelly unless I had a date. If he would get an actual band and do a decent set, he's have been on the level of some past geniuses.

Nevertheless, he still had some good songs on even his worst later-day albums, and has had more hits for other artists that easily put him up there with some of the all-time great R&B producers.

I know cancel culture is cool and all now, but not for me. If we combed through everyone's life, I'm sure there would be many other artists who would have to be cancelled. The art is the art for me. R. Kelly can sit in prison, but his music is still art to be enjoyed.

EmmaMcG said:

I'm one of those people who never lets a person's personal life impact my enjoyment of their work. That said, I never liked R Kelly's music anyway. And I'm glad he's now getting what he deserves.

I've never liked his music either. Not even the hits. This is what happens when one believes that he/she is greater than The Law. Bubba's gonna have a FIELD DAY with Kelly.