R. Kelly (album)

R. Kelly
Studio album by R. Kelly
Released	November 14, 1995
Recorded	1994–1995
Genre	R&B soul hip hop soul gospel
Label	Jive Zomba
Producer	R. Kelly Barry Hankerson (exec.)
R. Kelly chronology
12 Play (1993) R. Kelly (1995) R. (1998)
Singles from R. Kelly
"You Remind Me of Something" Released: October 30, 1995 "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" Released: December 11, 1995 "Thank God It's Friday" Released: January 6, 1996 "I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)" Released: March 29, 1996

R. Kelly is the self-titled second studio album by R&B singer R. Kelly. It was released on November 14, 1995. The album was somewhat of a departure from his previous album's sexual innuendos, featuring slightly more introspective lyrics. R. Kelly was the artist's second #1 R&B album and the first one to top the Billboard 200; it spawned three #1 R&B singles in chronological order: "You Remind Me of Something", "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" and "I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)".

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	(A-)[2]
Entertainment Weekly	(A-)[3]
Q	[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]
Yahoo! Music	(favorable)[6]

R. Kelly received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Jim Derogatis of Rolling Stone wrote, Kelly "has grown out of his unthinking misogyny to the point where he makes a plea in 'As I Look Into My Life' to 'brothers in the ghetto' to 'love and respect that woman and bring her happiness.' Make love not war is an old message, but Kelly delivers it with sincerity. By spreading it in the hood in these violent times, he believes he's doing God's work, and who's to say he is wrong? Predecessors like Marvin Gaye and Prince have shown that great sex is spiritual, and Kelly's make-out music ranks with the best."

Awards and nominations

American Music Awards – 1997 Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist (nominated)

BMI Awards – 1998 Pop Songwriter of the Year (won) ("I Believe I Can Fly", "I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)", and "I Don't Want To" by Toni Braxton)

MTV Video Music Awards – 1996 Best Male Video for "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" (nominated)

Track listing

All tracks written by R. Kelly, except "(You To Be) Be Happy" co-written with C. Wallace. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Sermon"	3:23
2.	"Hump Bounce"	4:06
3.	"Not Gonna Hold On"	4:04
4.	"You Remind Me of Something"	4:09
5.	"Step in My Room"	3:48
6.	"Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby..."	4:19
7.	"(You to Be) Be Happy" (featuring The Notorious B.I.G.)	4:36
8.	"Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" (featuring The Isley Brothers)	4:48
9.	"I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)"	5:31
10.	"Thank God It's Friday"	3:53
11.	"Love Is On the Way"	3:01
12.	"Heaven If You Hear Me"	0:58
13.	"Religious Love"	4:11
14.	"Tempo Slow"	4:10
15.	"As I Look Into My Life"	1:30
16.	"Trade in My Life"	6:20

In popular culture

In 1996, songs from this album were featured several times in the first season of the UPN sitcom Moesha. "Hump Bounce" featured in the third episode, "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" was featured in the tenth episode and "You Remind Me of Something" can be heard and was referenced in the fifth episode.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.^[7]

• Ray Bady – Vocals (Background)
• Chris Brickley – Engineer
• Lafayette Carthon – Keyboards
• Kirk Franklin – Choir Director, Guest Artist
• Stephen George – Engineer, Mixing, Programming
• Bernie Grundman – Mastering
• Barry Hankerson – Executive Producer
• Charlotte Horton – Vocals (Background)
• Ernie Isley – Guest Artist, Guitar, Performer, Primary Artist
• Ronald Isley – Guest Artist, Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals (Background)
• R. Kelly – Composer, Keyboards, Mixing, Multi Instruments, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
• Mr. Lee – Guest Artist, Mixing, Multi Instruments, Programming
• Peter Mokran – Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Programming
• The Notorious B.I.G. – Guest Artist, Primary Artist, Rap, Unknown Contributor Role
• Jim Slattery – Multi Instruments
• Mario Winans – Programming

Chart positions

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[8]	63
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[9]	26
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10]	69
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[11]	30
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[12]	32
UK Albums (OCC)[13]	18
US Billboard 200[14]	1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[15]	1

Certifications

Territory	Certifier	Certification	Sales
Canada	CRIA[16]	Gold	50,000
United Kingdom	BPI[17]	Gold	100,000
United States	RIAA[18]	5× Platinum	5,000,000

See also

• List of number-one albums of 1995 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1995 (U.S.)

References

1. Thomas, Stephen (1995-11-14). "((( R. Kelly > Overview )))". allmusic. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
2. "CG: R. Kelly". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
3. Ken Tucker (1995-11-24). "R. Kelly | Music". EW.com. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
4. "R Kelly R. Kelly CD". Cduniverse.com. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
5. The new Rolling Stone album guide - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
6. Derogatis, Jim (1995-11-14). "R. Kelly Reviews on Yahoo! Music". Yahoo! Music. Archived from the original on 2008-07-24. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
7. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r-kelly-mw0000177221/credits
8. "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 1 August 2005" (PDF) (805). Australian Recording Industry Association. Pandora Archive. August 1, 2005: 2. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
9. "Dutchcharts.nl – R. Kelly – R. Kelly" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
10. "Offiziellecharts.de – R. Kelly – R. Kelly" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
11. "Charts.org.nz – R. Kelly – R. Kelly". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
12. "Swedishcharts.com – R. Kelly – R. Kelly". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
13. "R Kelly | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved August 2, 2016.
14. "R. Kelly – Chart history" Billboard 200 for R. Kelly. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
15. "R. Kelly – Chart history" Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for R. Kelly. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
16. http://musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=&ica=False&sa=r.%20kelly&sl=&smt=0&sat=-1&ssb=Artist
17. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx
18. http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=R.%20Kelly&format=ALBUM&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2010&sort=CertificationDate&perPage=50