After
Love Letter and
Write Me Back, classy and relatively polite throwback albums,
R. Kelly reverts to sexually exaggerated and wholly contemporary content for
Black Panties.
Kelly, joined by a deep roster of fellow songwriters and producers, dispenses with the strings, horns, and dashing charm, and dishes out sleaze by the bucket over modern backdrops that slink and whir. All the material is slow and mostly pared down, made to maximize space for his still generous supply of hooks and outlandish lines. However, it's sleepy more often than it is seductive -- ironically less youthful than his two previous albums. Even when
Kelly brags about back breaking and promises to "beat that pussy 'til it's blue," there's not much evidence of fresh creativity or exertion. That doesn't mean that
Kelly never throws it into overdrive. Awestruck lines like "And if I'm ever in the mood for two pussies, then a pussy will bring another pussy to me" allow "Marry the Pu**y" to eclipse
Jaheim's "P**** Appreciation Day" and
the-Dream's "P*ssy" as 2013's most extreme ode to tubular tracts. The sinister boom-and-twinkle of "Cookie," mostly about servicing, would probably place fourth. It's not all filth. "You Deserve Better," a winding and atmospheric ballad, is typically materialistic but sweet; this time, when he sings about cracking lobster, it's in reference to dining, not his woman's back. The low-slung "My Story" is a bit debauched but details his rise to fame. "Right Back," among the deepest and most bittersweet songs in the man's catalog, expresses gratitude to close friends. At one point in the album,
Kelly even proclaims "We ain't even gotta touch," though that leads to "All I wanna do is throw this money on you," which leads to "We gon' fuck around and make a baby in this room." Occasional resemblances to
Drake and
the-Dream are as blatant as the
Isley Brothers and
Michael Jackson exercises of
Write Me Back. The similarities are so obvious that it's tough to discern if
Kelly is acknowledging his younger followers, aiming to beat them at their game, or both. Perhaps he's just a little short on new ideas. [A Deluxe Edition added four bonus tracks.] ~ Andy Kellman