The album starts and ends with Kelly’s soothing crescendos delivered with the strongest sentiment of passion. Uninhibited by any sort of mental restrictions regarding what is right and what is wrong to talk about. No need to try and interpret what it was that Kelly was talking about, it was sex, plain and simple. Not worried about hiding behind metaphors or toned down realities, he said everything in black and white for all to hear. Kelly was certainly one of these pioneers. That was thanks to the collaborative efforts of all R&B artists in decades past. Sex is all over music and media in general today. Kelly changed R&B music forever when he released his studio debut, 12 Play. He wasn’t the first artist in his subgenre which was termed, “new jack swing’, but he was definitely the one who brought it to the pop-culture forefront in the 90’s. With a natural likening to the original sensual tune-makers of the 1970’s and 80’s like Gaye and Isaac Hayes, Kelly donned his R&B roots beneath a Hip-hop cloak. Kelly would result in an imagined world without the likes of The-Dream, Trey Songz, Miguel or even Usher. Kelly is likely the biggest influence on modern day R&B. No matter the moniker, there is no debate, R. Hip-Hop’s Marvin Gay, the man who put the R in R&B, or my personal favorite, the prince of pillow-talk.
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