This is what was going through my head. I can’t deny Kelly’s had some serious hits (some of which I really like), but trying to put the best of R.Kelly against the best of Marvin Gaye is just no contest, and I’m not saying that because Marvin’s something of a sacred cow. Marvin made ‘What’s Goin’ On,’ Kelly just put out an album with songs that are just about pussy.
The fact that some of his stuff is just cheesy to the point of being awesomely bad doesn’t help.
It’s actually not that terrible of a comparison (Marvin Gaye, not Stevie). Instead of judging on “talent,” an impossible argument which will degrade into grinding both artists into their respective pulps of pussy songs versus empowerment, try looking at their career accomplishments. What a lot of people here are missing about R. Kelly is the amount of shit he’s produced and written for other people. Look at the songs he’s written for other people, and the careers he’s made and influenced. His credits in that part of the industry are up there with Babyface and L.A. Reid. “Staying power” may be a bit unfair seeing as Marvin was murdered, but their careers have lasted for almost the same amount of time. If you look at both of them in terms of industry accolades, airtime, and production I think you’ll find that it’s a fair comparison.
What makes R Kelly the anything “of the 90s” when everything he did was, at best, on par with other singers, songwriters, producers of that time? Longevity is the main thing that makes him stand out from everyone else. I’m not trying to discredit the guy but it was a competitive time back then. Babyface for just one example helped turn Atlanta into a music hub, while R was busy shaking off those Public Announcement bums.
you’re proving my point. you originally listed a bunch of new jack swing artists that kells came into the game with (jodeci, boyz ii men…) and now you’re talking about more traditional r&b dudes (keith sweat, babyface…). kelly does/did it all and still has FAR outshines (in terms of sales/popularity/quality/etc…) all of those dudes except maybe babyface who isn’t even working much as an artist these days (granted he’s been in the game since the 70’s).
as far as kells vs. gaye goes, i don’t have an opinion since i only know a handful of gaye’s most iconic songs whereas i’m familiar with almost all of kells’ catalog. wiki tells me that gaye’s catalog is wayyyy deeper than i thought it was, though. still though, i’d say that they’re known for completely different things. when i think of gaye, i think of socially consciously soul, when i think of kells i think sex/love songs and gospel.
more fiyah!
So now people are mad at stars for committing deplorable crimes again? Can’t wait to see what people have to say about Woody Allen and Roman Polanski next time they put out a film. lol I wonder if people actually know that Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13 year old cousin, dude’s got a street named after’im.
I don’t put put anything past rich famous people, any more. If you’re followed by paparazzi and you’re rich…you’re probably a pedophile. I know it’s not a healthy view but hey…blame the world.
pedophile or ephebophile?
@Thurst how does a figure, with peers, outshine them by far? Michael Jackson didn’t have a rival performer that could f with him in basically every category. Pre-Buster Douglas Tyson had no equal. There weren’t 2 Michael Jordan-level talents in basketball when the Bulls collected rings in the 90s… although there were a few all-time great players in the 80s collecting rings and breaking records, so nobody says Jordan was the “_____ of the 80s.”
Okay forget Keith Sweat, besides him, everybody I mentioned at least had a Billboard #1 single… or multiple singles. Or platinum albums. Or Grammys. Or songwriting talent that gave success for other artists. Those names stayed relevant from the early 90s if not 1990, right up to 1999. In the 00s R Kelly could/did call himself “the king of R&B,” and other R&B groups and music media wouldn’t say anything… if he said that in the 90s the needle would scratch the record. Even if he did it all, or did it better than most, he still had peers/contemporaries that were still successful and relevant by any category R was known for.
sales wise, r. kelly crushed everybody you mentioned…by far. as in his first album 4 albums went 6x, 5x, 8x and 4x platinum in the 90’s. billboard has him as the #1 selling r&b/rap artist since '85 ahead of whitney, mariah, usher and all of those other dudes you mentioned.
talent wise, r. kelly’s production credits shit on everybody and just for icing on top, just about every r&b star in the 90’s was going to r. kelly to write them hits. music isn’t a zerosum game, but just like MJ dominated the 80’s musically, r. kelly did so in the 90’s to an even greater extent in a lot of ways.
look I’m not trying to be fucking stupid here. but does there have to be a blqck requirement to appreciate this. I have never been able to appreciate this genre fro. the mid 90 up. like modern rnb just plain blows too me.
granted bitches in high school lived this shit and played it all day.
wait…nigga are you serious?! actually, maybe it is only a black thing…but i doubt it.
Whitney and Mariah both have two diamond records from the 90s, Boys II Men has one diamond record, TLC has one. I just don’t see how R Kelly dominated the 90s like Mike. Sum up his accomplishments, he’s probably the greatest R&B artist of that time… but you don’t have to explain to anyone why Michael Jackson ran pop in the 80s, period. I can’t talk about this anymore, I got a lot going on this weekend, I might pee on a (legal consenting adult) girl myself, life is weird that way.
here’s why I say this.
I live in long beach. the north side ao there are 3 main groups in n. long beach. Mexicans, South East Asians and some Chinese, and Blacks. but they live closer to Compton.
in my years in public school, it was only black folk that listened to acts like r.kelly. asude from the obvious rap, rnb was a common thing for black men to talk about growing up. the only other grouo that lustened to that type od rnb was females alone.
and I went to a prwtty widw variety of schools. dominan mexican and black elementary. dominantly black middle school, and dominant asian and white high school. even in college I haven’t meet non blacks that listen to this type of rnb. even with my dads friwnds, I’ve noticed that only his black friends listen to this type of rnb.
which is why I said what I said. this particular type of rnb seems to be popular only with females and black men. shit there’s this one dude that cruises around town with his bike cruiser and you only hear this type of rnb playing.
he does have a point. in his first 3 albums he was a singer that sometimes told stories. from the R and up, nigga changed into a storyteller who could sing. while he still had dope songs, to me personally he fell off compared to old kells. thing is, for the general public he became even more popular. but as an old school rnb head i wasnt really feeling his newer shit. ever since tht faggot ass i believe i can fly, he been going downhill for me (but he was becoming more and more popular for the general popmusic listener). its like those rap niggas. only difference is rap niggas completely sold out, the purpotrator was nelly, this nigga killed that real nigga shit. now its nothing but bitchmade motherfuckers.