Like most of its predecessors, R. Kelly's eleventh album is stuffed to the gills, with 18-plus songs clocking in at 76 minutes (or longer, depending on which bonus track[s] your edition includes.) And if Double Up is, inevitably, far from flawless, the level of novelty and listenability Kelly manages to sustain for that duration is quite a feat. It makes this his best full-length in years -- arguably his best of the decade -- especially when you consider that its high points -- most notably the singles "I'm a Flirt [Remix]" and "Same Girl" -- rank among the licentious Chicagoan's very finest. Yes, Kelly's familiar, almost cartoonishly overstated brand of sex-obsessed misogyny is as rampant here as his increasingly eccentric humor -- more so than ever, on both counts. So if you're not of a disposition to stomach the 40-year-old (whose still-pending child pornography trial was set to commence several months after the album's release, before being delayed yet again) boasting about his plot to seduce a pair of "freaky" first cousins for a ménage ŕ trois (in the title track), or warning listeners to steer their girlfriends clear of his restlessly prowling libido (in "Flirt": "the moral of this story is 'cuff your chick'"), this could be a painfully long and humorless listen, or worse. But cut the man a little slack, at least on record -- or allow him the indulgence of his already comically blatant perversity (at least he doesn't present himself as someone who expects to be taken very seriously) and it's either an absurd explosion of standard R&B tropes (nightclub bangers, baby-makin' slow jams, overwrought breakup songs) or simply a treasure trove of questionable-taste comedy gold. Actually, those aforementioned scenarios are just the tip of the iceberg, strictly routine in comparison to extended X-rated metaphors -- in the vein of "In the Kitchen" or "Ignition" (the original, not the remix) -- involving jungle animals (the brilliantly nutty, if somewhat misleadingly titled "The Zoo"), dessert ("Sweet Tooth"), and interstellar travel ("Sex Planet"), or hammy, convoluted mini-epics like "Same Girl," the one-sided argument "Real Talk," and the multi-player melodrama "Best Friend" (the closest this album comes to the preposterous serialized histrionics of the apparently endless "Trapped in the Closet" saga.) Subject matter aside (lets not even get into the incongruously inspirational Virginia Tech paean "Rise Up"), there's no denying that Kells is in top form production-wise. His occasional attempts at trend-jumping have somewhat mixed results -- the turgid metal guitars of "Rock Star," featuring Kid Rock; the menacing Southern-style synths of "Rollin'"; the fine but innocuous Caribbean-tinged "Freaky in the Club" -- though it doesn't help that these are also the album's least inspired moments conceptually and melodically. On the other hand, he cops 2007's production gimmick du jour, vocodered R&B vocals (ŕ la T-Pain), to excellent effect on "Leave Your Name," a hilarious slice of lifestyle-boasting-as-overly-detailed-voice mail-message. But when he sticks to his somehow perennially fresh style of lush, laid-back, semi-organic, mid-tempo grooves, he's both unmistakable and untouchable. Even the album's parade of A-list guest stars (among them Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Chamillionaire, T.I., Ludacris, and Keyshia Cole), though it does help to keep things interesting, never threatens to overshadow the musical and vocal smoothness, and perversely compelling lyricism of the main event.
I was pretty psyched to find out there was a remix single to R. Kelly's "Same Girl" out. I mean, the original was classic with a brilliant video, and R. Kelly's remixes are usually better than their predecessors. This time, however, the magic just isn't there. First off, despite the fact that Kells and Usher found out they were dating the same girl in the original, they in fact bonded over i...
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R. Kelly - Double UpJive, 20075 stars of 101. "The Champ" (with Swizz Beats)"Are you ready for me?" R. Kelly asked on the first song, "The Sermon," from his 1995 self-titled record. "Before I start, I just wanna get a few things off my chest." On that intro, a gospel-organ slow jam, Kelly preached against judgment (lest ye be judged) in a move of self-assurance bolstered by passionate religious...
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To go along with his 30,000,000+ album sales, the king of Rnb has realeased a list of cuts that are sure to bang in the clubs and seduce in the bedroom. If yall know anything about his stats in the music industry, well, then you already know he truely is the king of RnB....Kellz 4 Life Bitches
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R. Kelly will be releasing a new album titled "Double Up" this May! I'm hoping it will be an improvement over TP.3 Reloaded. You can listen to "I'm A Flirt," and it's remix here (http://www.r-kelly.com) which flow together like "Ignition" and "Ignition (Remix)" did on "Chocolate Factory." I'm not totally impressed by the song, but it sounds better than most of what was on TP. 3 Reloaded. Hopefu...
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R. Kelly - Double UpJive, 20075 stars of 101. "The Champ" (with Swizz Beats)"Are you ready for me?" R. Kelly asked on the first song, "The Sermon," from his 1995 self-titled record. "Before I start, I just wanna get a few things off my chest." On that intro, a gospel-organ slow jam, Kelly preached against judgment (lest ye be judged) in a move of self-assurance bolstered by passionate religious...
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America loves R.Kelly. Forget those past child rape allegations against the R&B singer, R. Kelly is now only making headlines with his Number One debut this week. Kelly's Double Up sold 386,000 copies this week to earn the top spot on the charts, making for his sixth Number One out of a possible ten. R.Kelly's domination slid Maroon 5's It Won't Be Soon Before Long to the Number Two position, w...
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Parents should keep their thirteen years old girls locked indoors because R. Kelly is heading out on tour and taking J. Holiday and Ne-Yo with him. The R&B singer and star of Trapped In The Closet just announced a full tour in support of his platinum selling eighth studio album, Double Up, which debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200. The tour starts November 14th at Columbus Civic Center i...
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I'm going to review R. Kelly's Double Up at some point in the near future, but I am listening to the song "Double Up" right now, and I have one word:autotune.Damn. I guess he was going to succumb eventually. I heard it on "I'm a Flirt (Remix)" but it wasn't extreme at all. This isn't Akon/T-Pain level, but ... it really does disappoint me. It really does.Word on the whole LP next week.
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I was pretty psyched to find out there was a remix single to R. Kelly's "Same Girl" out. I mean, the original was classic with a brilliant video, and R. Kelly's remixes are usually better than their predecessors. This time, however, the magic just isn't there. First off, despite the fact that Kells and Usher found out they were dating the same girl in the original, they in fact bonded over i...
More >
"Moved by the terrible events at Virginia Tech last week, singer-songwriter R. Kelly has written and recorded a song of encouragement in memory of the victims and in condolence to their families.As the details of the tragedy were unfolding last week, Kelly was traveling across the country on his tour bus for a performance. Deeply affected by the news, he was inspired to write lyrics he shaped i...
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R. Kelly will be releasing a new album titled "Double Up" this May! I'm hoping it will be an improvement over TP.3 Reloaded. You can listen to "I'm A Flirt," and it's remix here (http://www.r-kelly.com) which flow together like "Ignition" and "Ignition (Remix)" did on "Chocolate Factory." I'm not totally impressed by the song, but it sounds better than most of what was on TP. 3 Reloaded. Hopefu...
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R. Kelly has written a song for the people of Virginia Tech titled "Rise Up", Rise Up is an inspirational song about healing and perseverance in troubled times. The Song will be available for digital download on May 15th, and 100% of the proceeds will go torwards the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.Kelly was moved to write the song after watching events unfold on television last month. However, he's...
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To go along with his 30,000,000+ album sales, the king of Rnb has realeased a list of cuts that are sure to bang in the clubs and seduce in the bedroom. If yall know anything about his stats in the music industry, well, then you already know he truely is the king of RnB....Kellz 4 Life Bitches
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 The Champ |
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| 2 Double Up |
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| 3 Tryin' to Get a Number |
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| 4 Get Dirty |
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| 5 Leave Your Name |
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| 6 Freaky in the Club |
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| 7 The Zoo |
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| 8 I'm a Flirt [Remix] |
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| 9 Same Girl |
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| 10 Real Talk |
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| 11 Hook It Up |
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| 12 Rock Star |
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| 13 Best Friend |
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| 14 Rollin' |
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| 15 Sweet Tooth |
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| 16 Havin' a Baby |
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| 17 Sex Planet |
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| 18 Rise Up |
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| 19 [Untitled] |
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| 20 [Untitled] |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Double Up")
