TP-2.Com - R. Kelly

R. Kelly released his fourth album in 2000, and just as many new acts had come up on the scene, he took it upon himself to capitalise upon the success which he had on his album prior to this, “R.” (a double-album) to make a full transformation and progress with the times and take on what the new phase of R&B had to offer in the way which only he could. Doing this, he was sure to remind listeners of where he had come from by using “TP-2.com as the ...
.../> 1. “TP-2” (Intro)

2. “Strip For You”

The artist immediately shows that this album isn’t going to see any major shifts in the type of thing which he sings about as this one gets things underway properly and finds that he is still his old self as he gets into sensual things from the start. It is just what you like to ere from him, and it has him trying out some new, original, watery production to send him on his way.
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R. Kelly released his fourth album in 2000, and just as many new acts had come up on the scene, he took it upon himself to capitalise upon the success which he had on his album prior to this, “R.” (a double-album) to make a full transformation and progress with the times and take on what the new phase of R&B had to offer in the way which only he could. Doing this, he was sure to remind listeners of where he had come from by using “TP-2.com as the title, referring his solo debut, “12 Play”.

1. “TP-2” (Intro)

2. “Strip For You”

The artist immediately shows that this album isn’t going to see any major shifts in the type of thing which he sings about as this one gets things underway properly and finds that he is still his old self as he gets into sensual things from the start. It is just what you like to ere from him, and it has him trying out some new, original, watery production to send him on his way.

**Four Stars**

3. “R&B Thug”

His transformation seems to be explained pretty well through this song as he does a tune to explain exactly who he is as an artist and how people should treat his music. You can tell that it was if he felt threatened by the new R&B acts who used beats which were pioneered by Timbaland’s erratic percussion, as he worked with the likes of Ginuwine, Destiny’s Child and Aaliyah (who was Kells former associate, and lover), and this type of production is done by him as he attempts to imitate this popular style which Darkchild was also well-known for doing.

**Four Stars**

4. “The Greatest Sex”

In this song you have him showing how he can give a song minimal production to drive it as he sings a songs, designed for the bedroom, in a way so that it appears that it is solely his voice which is getting the most out of this one. With a title such as this, you would expect something especially strong and different from him, and to some degree you get this, but I wouldn’t’ have picked it over his earlier classic slow jams.

**Four Stars**

5. “I Don’t Mean It”

Here you have the artist doing a track where he has to lower the pace for a completely different reason as he does one here where he must sing about how he needs forgiveness from his girl after having shouted at her during an argument. It is done fairly well, and is a fair song from him to show that he is able to keep things consistent and to a high enough standard, even on occasions where he is doing plain fillers.

**Three Stars**

6. “Just Like That”

Off the one prior to it, you find that he goes for a song where he attempts to describe how he feels when he gets intimate with his partner. I thought the that it really let him down quite a lot as this would have been a great time to show just how good his song-writing talent is, but really it could have been done by anyone, judging on how plain it was, ad unimaginative the wording appeared to be.

**Two Stars**

7. “Like A Real Freak”

I felt that the last tune was a real downer for him, and so to follow on from it we would surely get a lot more from it than what we had just witnessed out of his songs as this one, as the title indicates has him doing things on some really freaky beats with a rapid pace and the use of strings to guide him through as he attempts to describe just how his girl works it for him.

**Four Stars**

8. “Fiesta”

Since his 1998 album ”R. “ produced his real club banger in “Home Alone”, he attempts to show that he wasn’t a simple one-hit wonder in this field with this one (and form here it seemed that he rarely went back to anything else for his singles. It has him working with Jay-Z, and was seen as the track which sparked a collaboration of talent in their collaborative 2004 album “Best of Both Worlds”.

**Four Stars**

9. “Don’t You Say No”

He comes with some bassy synth work in this one in order to push through the sensual feelings which dominate this song. I felt that it was a good way to inject it from the start before he tried to go about doing this with his words, sung in a soothing manner. It is takes you in, and you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else one it kicks in.

**Four Stars**

10. “The Real R. Kelly” (Lude)

11. “One Me”

Later sampled by Twista in a rack entitled “I’m A Winner”, this one has him doing things in a way where he attempts to show how he has found a compromise between all the various types of songs he has excelled in up to this point, and so here h pus his “Bump ‘N’ Grind” material in action, but to a much more exciting pace to suit the change in times.

**Four Stars**

12. “I Wish”

This was one of the biggest songs to come off the album, and as soon as it kicks in, you find that it gives a significant lift to the thing as he drops this epic, empowering song. This song showed how he was able to bring in his new-found talent for the ballads, and blend it with something which the majority of the R&B crowds can get down to too. It is a dedication to his mother, who had died a fair time earlier.

**Five Stars**

13. “A Woman’s Threat”

In what appears to be a follow-up to the song “When A Woman’s Fed Up”, from his 1998 album, you get him doing a big tune directly off what is one of the best tracks on the album. It is done really well, and it, unlike others here, showcases how good his lyrics can be when he really puts effort into it, and so although despite doing things in simple lists, he is able to make you really thinking through each expressing as it comes out so rapidly.

**Four Stars**

14. “I Decided”

The synth in the production you get in thins song reminds me of the artist’s earlier years, and it fact it takes me right back to 1992 with his solo debut (after parting with Public Announcement) and I would have to say that this little reminder of where he has come from boosts things as he blasts out another powerful song from deep within him.

**Four Stars**

15. “I Mean”

Although I would consider this one to be one of the better songs from the album, I can’t help but feel that it is held back by the fact that what the content of the lyrics concern is so similar to that of another song here, that it makes it seem unoriginal by him, and have it as if he is trying to get all he can out of things which have run their course.

**Four Stars**

16. “I Wish” (Remix)

In a remix to the lead single from this album, you have things done in a different way as he chooses to do this dedication to others who have past, other than his mother, and instead the does one “to the homies”, and with this personal one he sings directly to them without the general references which the earlier version has as he gets much deeper. I wouldn’t say it’s anywhere as good as the first one, but it still makes an impact here.

**Four Stars**

17. “All I Really Want”

Off the big remix, as I saw it nothing was really going to compare with it, and so it appears that the standards slip as this one comes in and it appears that the quality of this recording is nothing really that spectacular. It is a very straight-forward R&B tune with him on some acoustics to give it some uniqueness, but it’s not that special at all.

**Three Stars**

18. “Feelin’ On Your Booty”

For me, this single was the biggest one to come off the album, and it seemed to realy define what this new version of the artist was about as he does thing in a way which we hadn’t seen before as he is able to appeal to the Hip hop crowd with the booming bass and the club setting, which has him perform a slow dance. The melodies in here are big, and lift you as he gets to it, and it really puts you in the atmosphere.

**Five Stars**

19. “The Storm Is Over Now”

Ending the album you have what was the third single from the album, and it appears to have him revisiting the ballad kind of thing from his previous album, but personally I saw this one as a simple attempt to win over those who came to be attracted to his music from the type of stuff which came through then, and it wasn’t my thing at all.

**Two Stars**

This album suffers with its inconsistency as he goes from killing it with his big singles, and then has us led right into one of his average fillers which leave you annoyed that he just can’t get the job done. You have some classic material from him here, but with so many poor ones, and having it contain so many tracks, it can seem as if it is dominated by weaker material.  

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