12 Play - R. Kelly

...**Five Stars**

12. "12 Play"

I was disappointed by this ending to the album as it was similar to the ballard from earlier on, "For You", and so I really couldn't enjoy it as I would have liked. It's definately not the best way to end the album, and as ballards aren't really my thing anyway, I wasn't into it, but I could still enjoy the song-writing talent which he has, and display here.

...classic album from R. Kelly, not onl;y because it contains some of his best work with the big singles, "Sex Me", "Your Body's Calling", and "Bump 'N Grind", but also because it has things which others didn't as he showed lots of variety with a couple of raps intermixed with some of the best R&B slow jams ever.  ... more

Released towards the end of 1993, "12 Play", is the first solo album from R. Kelly, who originally performed alongside Public Announcement. This album marked a change in the artist as he moved away from his past as a New Jack Swing artist, and decided to join the trend of more traditional R&B, which had been lost for a few years between the end of the eighties and start of the nineties, but as this 'swing' element had become unpopular by the end of 1993, he decided to go for something more soulful.

1. "Your Body's Calling"

Here is a big way to open up the album as he gets you right into the mood of things with one of the successsful singles from the release with this tune. It's a track with a low tempo and it eems to ease you into the tune which follows on from it, but as a song in its own right, its a very nice one; one not to be missed out on.

**Five Stars**

2. "Bump N' Grind"

Most should know this song as it was the biggest song from this album, and showed significant improvement from his debut album where his sensual tunes were simply weak in comparison to tracks such as this. You could argue that Kelly peaked at this type of song here with this tremenous display of vocla talent and song-writing to come out with one of the best 'midnight soul' tracks of all time.

**Five Stars**

3. "Homie Lover Friend"

You have a pounding bassline through this one, and I felt as if this was the thing which kept it going as R. kelly makes sure that the sensual nature of his music flows through his music effortlessly. He lets his own self-made production do the talking in its own right, but his lyrics are also interesting to listen to as he tlaks about his ideal woman, as mix of what is stated within the title.

**Four Stars**

4. "Seems Like You're Ready"

You can hear the inexperience of the production come through here as you get yet another tune which sounds extremly simialr to the rest of the ones which are found on the album, and as a result it does effect the quality, and prevent true variation being able to come through, however the song itself allows him to put out another side to his music. It's another smooth one, but he makes sure that it differs from the rest as changes his singing style by making full use of his vocal range from the very high notes, to the deep lows.

**Three Stars**

5. "Freak Dat Body"

The first real change in the mood of the album comes in this track as you have some Hip Hop beats making an appearance during the tune to accompany his singing, and as it worked so well on his debut album, "Born into the '90s", you would expect it to be just as good here, however it didin't really fit in with the remaninder of the remainder of the album as he decides to go back to the rapping from the first record, but it isn't working anymore.

**Two Stars**

6. "I Like The Crotch On You"

After the switch in mood from the song beofere it, the one seems to follow on well from "Freak Dat Body", and luckliy it is a much stronger tune thn it as he goes for a good old R&B tune which has him inject just enough Hip Hop to make it funky, but not too much to make it decrease in quality the the tune prior to this one did. R. kelly's production is shown to have quite a bit more variaion than expected by this point as it is a nice swinging one, but suits the R&B style of Kells well (which it should, considering he composed it himself).

**Four Stars**

7. "Summer Bunnies"

Although earlier I stated that when rapping was included into R. Kelly's music, is didn't work as well as when he originally came out with Public Announcement, in this case it's different as you are unable to argue the fact that when he performs this one, the swing beat and the jingling production (taken from the New Jack Swing era) really need this to get the mood hyped up enough for it to work.

**Four Stars**

8. "For You"

You would really expect someone like R. Kelly to be amazing at ballards considering that mos of his early hits were slow jams, but when you hear this one, you are immediately forced to think in opposition to this as this is a painful one from him, something which isn't worth listening to more than once.

**Two Stars**

9. "Back To the Hood Of Things"

When I listend to this the first imte through, I knew that it sounded familair to me, but there ws nothing specific which I could point out from it. Then when listening to the production and taking the year into consideration, I notied that he ad taken infleunce from waht was goign on on the West Cost for Hip hop, then when I read that the writers for this one were no longer just one person, Kells, but also Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg(y Dogg) it all mad esense. It has R. Kelly rapping some typical lines whihc you can imagine coming straight out of Snoop's mouth, and it seemed as though he adapted to it all very well.

**Four Stars**

10. "Sadie"

This track is a dedication to R. Kelly's mother, Sadie, who he lost by cancer earlier on in the year which this was relased, 1993. Obviously it is a tune which is very personal to himslef, but he mad eit quite open to personal interpretation so that his fans could appreciate it as a musical piece too.

**Four Stars**

11. "Sex Me" (Part I and Part II)

This has the original tune as well as the lesser known remix to it, both following on from each other. The first version in my opinion is the better of the two as it has Kells performing his terrific smooth tunes as earlier, in a similar way to "Bump N'; Grind", and I expect that if that was one which you enjoyed, then you are likely to have similar feelings towards this one. The more lively remix, "Part II" isn't as strong, but is nice to hear, so it's not as good at taking over the popularity of the original, as "Ignition"'s Remix did, but still good to have on here.

**Five Stars**

12. "12 Play"

I was disappointed by this ending to the album as it was similar to the ballard from earlier on, "For You", and so I really couldn't enjoy it as I would have liked. It's definately not the best way to end the album, and as ballards aren't really my thing anyway, I wasn't into it, but I could still enjoy the song-writing talent which he has, and display here.

**Two Stars**

"12 Play" is a classic album from R. Kelly, not onl;y because it contains some of his best work with the big singles, "Sex Me", "Your Body's Calling", and "Bump 'N Grind", but also because it has things which others didn't as he showed lots of variety with a couple of raps intermixed with some of the best R&B slow jams ever. 

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