R. Kelly Shifts Gears...Slightly
Written: Nov 08 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: classic R. Kelly
Cons: probably won't help his image
The Bottom Line: A lot of people said that TP-2.Com wasn't worth buying because it was all about sex. Well, you ain't seen nothing yet.
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| hierograffiti's Full Review: Ignition [Single] by R. Kelly |
Man, I'm not even sure how to approach this one. We all know what's going on with R. Kelly, so I won't go into too much detail there. I will say that whether he is a sex-taping child molester or if he's an innocent man with a look-alike, he has always made incredible music. And even if he's eventually found guilty, he probably won't go to jail. This is America. We don't send our celebrities to jail. Remember Jay-Z admitted to stabbing a cat and only received probation.
With that said, R. Kelly's "Loveland" album was supposed to drop in August, but was repeatedly delayed and eventually scrapped altogether because of massive bootlegging. I'm from Chicago and I don't know anyone who doesn't have the CD. While I'm not an advocate of bootlegging or of buying bootlegs, I got this one once I found out that it was never going to be officially released. The CD (while not his best) was pretty good and had a couple of songs that would have become classic on the level of "I Believe I Can Fly." Despite the blatant attempted PR elevation, "Heaven I Need A Hug" was an incredible song, musically. Even more impressive was the second single "In The Name Of Love" which is still getting ridiculous airplay. This song is aimed at the steppers, but any R&B fan would like this one. While the concept is kinda...dumb (after he has sex, he has the urge to go to the club and step), this one is a musical masterpiece. Because of the rampant popularity of these two, they are going to be the only remnants of "Loveland" included in Kelly's next album "Chocolate Factory" (so-named because you never know what you're gonna get). But in order to give fans a taste of some of the newer songs, Kelly released "Ignition" as his next single.
Again, the song is a musical masterpiece, a fact (opinion) further highlighted by its simplicity. If you count to four at a rate of a number per second, you have the bassline. After each beat, pluck a guitar three times quickly. That is the whole track. Of course, if you haven't heard the song, you wouldn't know which strings to pluck, but you get the idea of how simple the beat is. This is actually a good indicator of the sound that Kelly experimented with on "Loveland." A few of the songs (most notably "Forever And Ever" {you have to hear this one if you haven't already}) were totally stripped down basslines that only featured one or two other instruments. They were all on the verge of sounding incomplete, but somehow all created perfectly cohesive songs.
But back to the topic. In spite of its musical acheivement "Ignition" has generated quite a bit of controversy, because of its lyrics, which are of the sexual variety. In fact, WGCI which is one of the two urban music stations here, won't play the song because of "its sexual content and the nature of the charges against Kelly."
The song is basically a sequel to "You Remind Me Of Something." The difference is, this time he picks only one object, a car, to compare to his woman. Yeah, I know, I know. And in fact, he doesn't even really do it well. "I Used To Love H.E.R." by Common (which has THE best lyrics of any song anywhere in any genre by the way) is a perfect example of what this song is SUPPOSED to be. But Kelly is nowhere near being the poet that Common is and his metaphors aren't as well-thought-out. But then again, he's never been much of a poet.
The very first line in the song is "Girl, please let me stick my key in your ignition, Babe" and is a pretty good indicator of what this song is about. It is a series of metaphors with much the same meaning. While this may seem crude to some, I have always had an affinity to R. Kelly's music and this is what I have come to expect from him. And it's never really been what he's saying as much as it's been how he's saying it. During the hook, he has a flow that most R&B cats don't have and he rides the beat better than about half of the rappers out:
'Cause we off up in this jeep
We foggin up the windows
We got the radio up
We all up in the back
We got this sh!t bouncin
We goin' up and down
And we smokin and we drinkin
Just a thug in and out
Yeah, the lyrics are very elementary, but you have to hear this to appreciate it. His cadence here is flawless and it's almost as if his voice is actually a part of the beat. And that's what makes this song so perfect. This is mood music at its finest. I can see people being put off by the sexual content that can be viewed as slightly more revealing than normal, but in actuality, Kelly never says anything that's blatantly sexual (well...except that "in and out" part). The images he uses just seem more risque than they really are. It reminds me of my idiot roommate at school who used to always yell out "BUCKFUTTER" whenever we were in a crowded place.
Also included on the single are the instrumental version of "Ignition" and three snippets of "Chocolate Factory", "Imagine That", and "Who's That?" The instrumental is almost as nice to listen to as the regular version of the song. "Chocolate Factory" seems to be an average song and doesn't stand out at all. "Imagine That" is another foray into this "incomplete" sound that Kelly is developing. This is another incredible piece musically, and I'm really digging this style he's coming up with. I'm sure some old head out there is going to correct me and say that someone somewhere has done this before. I haven't heard anything like this before, but if I'm wrong just holla at me. And "Who's That" features Fat Joe and continues in the tradition of "We Thuggin'" and will probably be a radio and club favorite, because of its salsa style beat.
With all that said, I'm not sure how you should take this from me, because like I said, I've been a fan of the majority of R. Kelly's work for a long time. So I might not be the most objective person in this case. But I think the single is definitely worth picking up. But there are some people (women moreso than men) who might want to avoid this one, because of its lyrical content. And those people are losers. Just kidding...losers.
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Romancing
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Epinions.com ID:
hierograffiti
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Member: Cyclone Jones
Location: Chicago, Ill Noise
Reviews written: 48
Trusted by: 38 members
About Me:
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
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