The tropical lagoon in R.Kelly’s home must secretly be a fountain of youth. Monday night (August 17th) the 42-year-old R&B star invited a handful of journalists and friends to hear his up-coming CD, Untitled for the very first time. Dressed in a navy blue linen shirt, jeans and white sneakers he stood on his living room table and declared happily that he’d been “doing his homework. I wouldn’t have ya’ll up in my house if I hadn’t been.”
What exactly constitutes “homework” at the R. Kelly Summer School?
“I had a party in my house every week for three weeks. Had about 200 girls and 5 guys,” he joked. “I can’t go to the club anymore because there are too many people with cameras and cell phones. So I just have the party here and I’d test the music out on them.”
After making sure all of his guests were holding a cup of his custom cocktail “Sex in The Kitchen” he proposed a toast, “May the best of our past be the worst of our future” and pressed play.
From the onset the Autotune flavored tracks like “Crazy Night” and “Outta The Game” threatened to send artists like The Dream and Jeremih back to the drawing board. But the undisputed crowd pleasers were “Exit” and “Echo.” With its chants of “Sex in the morning, sex all day” prepare to hear a lot of yodeling in the clubs this fall.
Noticeably missing from the up-tempo collection were the certified “baby-maker” slow jams that have become his calling card. But Kelly says his fans have no reason to be concerned.
“I got three kids off my own shit,” he says of the seductive 12-Play. “My next album is going to be called Zodiac. How many signs are in the Zodiac? 12. So it will be the new 12-Play.
Getting into a boxers stance he continued.
“Ali set you up with a jab before the right cross,” he said with a swing. “And this is one hell of a jab.”
The night was capped with a tour of his studio where his hits like “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Sex Me” were conceived. He told the tightly packed crowd that he’d recorded five songs for Michael Jackson before the icon died and badly wants to record with Stevie Wonder. Sitting at a keyboard he also confessed to a bit of narcissism when asked why he keeps a full-length mirror by his microphone.
“I get my swag up that way,” he said with a grin. “I don’t see Robert in that mirror, I see Kells.”
Robert will be giving his listeners plenty of opportunity to check out “Kells” when he kicks of the intimate “Ladies Make Some Noise” tour to coincide with the Untitled release on October 13th.
Tracklisting and tour dates are below:
Untitled Tracklist
Crazy Night feat. Rock City (produced by R.Kelly & Lil Ronnie)
Outta The Game (produced by R.Kelly & Chris Henderson)
Exit (produced by R.Kelly & Jazze Pha)
Echo (produced by R. Kelly & Infiniti)
Bangin’ The Headboard (produced by R.Kelly & Infiniti)
Text Me (produdced by R.Kelly & GAZ)
Number One feat. Keri Hilson (produced by R. Kelly & Roy Hamilton)
Like I Do (produced by R.Kelly & Carlos McKinney)
Elsewhere (produced by R.Kelly & Chris Henderson)
Fallin’ From The Sky (produced by R.Kelly & T-Town)
Religious (produced by R.Kelly and Todd Dixon)
#1 Fan (produced by R. Kelly & Carlos McKinney
Be My Number 2 (produced by R.Kelly & Jack Splash)
Supa Man High feat. OJ Da Juiceman (produced by R. Kelly & Willy Will)
SHOW DATES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Date City
October 8 Mashantucket, CT
October 9 Boston, MA
October 10 Albany, NY
October 11 Baltimore, MD
October 13 Philadelphia, PA
October 15 Newark, NJ
October 16 New York, NY
October 18 Pittsburg, PA
October 20 Cincinnati, OH
October 22 Atlanta, GA
October 23 Chattanooga, TN
October 24 Charleston, SC
October 25 Augusta, GA
October 27 Birmingham, AL
October 29 Dallas, TX
October 30 Houston, TX
October 31 New Orleans, LA
November 1 Memphis, TN
November 5 Los Angeles, CA
November 6 Las Vegas, NV
November 7 Oakland, CA
November 12 Indianapolis, IN
November 14 Detroit, MI
November 15 Milwaukee, WI
November 17 Chicago, IL
November 20 Louisville, KY
November 21 Charlotte, NC
November 22 Greensboro, NC
November 24 Washington, D.C
November 27 Jacksonville, FL
November 28 Miami, FL
November 29 Tampa, FL
December 4 Norfolk, VA
December 5 Richmond, VA
December 6 Cleveland, OH
December 8 St. Louis, MO
