Maps of Music
R. (1998)
Where the lyrics of R. take you, and where it was really made.
R. was Kelly's first album in which other producers worked on the music alongside him, and its cover reuses his 1993 debut's photo in silhouette.
View on the mapKey places
Recorded at Chicago Trax (1998)
Recording site Chicago Trax — The source lists Chicago Trax in Chicago as the recording location for R., the studio where the album was made. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: See the map for directions.
Album story
Overview
- R.: third solo album by American singer R. Kelly
- Released as a double album on 10 November 1998 by Jive Records
- Issued in a slim double CD jewel case with a 32-page booklet of photos and credits
- Recording credited to Chicago Trax in Chicago
Background
- First Kelly album on which other producers worked on the music, instead of Kelly producing the whole album himself
- First time Kelly collaborated with other artists on one of his albums
- Released after Kelly's earlier albums, in the same period as the number-one hit "I'm Your Angel" from this release
Recording
- Mixed and recorded at Chicago Trax, Chicago
- Kelly still wrote and produced most songs, with other producers credited on several tracks
Cover
- Uses the same image of Kelly from his 1993 debut 12 Play
- Image shown in silhouette against a red and black background
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · es.wikipedia.org
Tracklist
Disc 1
| 1 | Home Alone | 5:02 |
| 2 | Spendin’ Money | 4:56 |
| 3 | If I’m Wit You | 4:34 |
| 4 | Half on a Baby | 4:58 |
| 5 | When a Woman’s Fed Up | 4:41 |
| 6 | Get Up on a Room | 4:13 |
| 7 | One Man | 4:59 |
| 8 | We Ride | 4:52 |
| 9 | The Opera | 1:26 |
| 10 | The Interview | 1:35 |
| 11 | Only the Loot Can Make Me Happy | 5:00 |
| 12 | Don’t Put Me Out | 5:24 |
| 13 | Suicide | 5:22 |
| 14 | Etcetera | 4:14 |
| 15 | If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time | 6:21 |
| 16 | What I Feel / Issues | 4:45 |
Disc 2
| 1 | The Chase | 2:45 |
| 2 | V.I.P. | 4:17 |
| 3 | Did You Ever Think | 4:32 |
| 4 | Dollar Bill | 4:23 |
| 5 | Reality | 4:45 |
| 6 | 2nd Kelly | 5:03 |
| 7 | Ghetto Queen | 4:20 |
| 8 | Down Low Double Life | 5:00 |
| 9 | Looking for Love | 4:38 |
| 10 | Dancing With a Rich Man | 3:30 |
| 11 | I’m Your Angel | 5:32 |
| 12 | Money Makes the World Go Round | 4:10 |
| 13 | I Believe I Can Fly | 5:21 |
Sources: musicbrainz.org
Artist
Formation
- Born Robert Sylvester Kelly on January 8, 1967, on Chicago's South Side, Illinois.
- Began performing in the subway under Chicago "L" tracks, busking at the Jackson station on the Red Line.
- Joined the group MGM (Musically Gifted Men) formed in 1989, which won a $100,000 prize on the TV show Big Break in 1991 before disbanding.
Career
- Signed with Jive Records in 1991; debut Born into the 90's (1992, with Public Announcement) yielded hits including "She's Got That Vibe".
- Solo album 12 Play (1993) produced the number-one hit "Bump N' Grind", which spent a record 12 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart.
- "I Believe I Can Fly" (1996) won three Grammy Awards in 1998.
- Wrote and produced "You Are Not Alone" for Michael Jackson, which debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100.
- Sold over 75 million records worldwide; Billboard ranked him the 9th greatest R&B artist of all time.
- Convicted in 2021 and 2022 on child sex offences and sentenced to a combined 31 years; his career ended after these convictions.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org
Reception
At release
- Reached number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number two on the US Billboard 200 after release
- Sold over 216,000 copies in its first week of sales
- Spawned "I'm Your Angel", Kelly's second number-one on the Billboard Hot 100
- Included "I Believe I Can Fly", a number-one Top R&B hit that had first been released two years earlier on the Space Jam soundtrack
- Allmusic's Thomas Erlewine called it an admirable offer and one of Kelly's best albums despite some flaws
- Critical reception was mostly positive
Reappraisal
- Ranked number 4 in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 best albums of 1998
- Included among the 200 definitive albums listed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Records
- Kelly's best-selling release to date
- Sold over eight million copies in the United States and over 12.4 million copies worldwide
- 1998 BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year award for Kelly
- 1999 Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals ("I'm Your Angel")
- 2000 Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album
- 1999 Soul Train Music Awards: won Best R&B/Soul Album, Male and Sammy Davis Jr. Entertainer of the Year Award
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org
Trivia
- The cover reuses the image of Kelly from his 1993 debut 12 Play, changed to a silhouette.
- The song "Half on a Baby" was first written for Bobby Brown and was meant to be the first single from Brown's album Forever.
- Spanish-language Wikipedia ranks the album at number 4 on Rolling Stone's 100 best albums of 1998.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org
View on the map