R Kelly - Double Up
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Free Music Notes for Double Up
Free Music Review: No title
Hit: 3 Stars
Could have been better if there wher more R&B songs I think but he is tryin to appeal to the young crowd which I think is th downfall of the album wiht alot of club bangers which really sound the same but I my joints are The Zoo and Sweet tooth which are really his best work and more of his m o I think but what can you sayFree Music Review: R As Redundant
Hit: 2 Stars
R. Kelly doesn't need any further introduction, he's one of the finest and most successful R&b Artists from the last 15 years and he's given us so many hits that we've become spoiled and he's even written songs for others like Michael Jackson's "Cry" and "You Are Not Alone". As versatile as he is his music often differ from time to time. We got the love songs (Down Low, If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time) we got the film themes (Gotham City, I Believe I Can Fly) both Spiritual and uptempo Gospel song from his Happy People/U Saved Me and then we got the songs for the club and the songs about sex. Which this album is entirely about. To be honest, these are the two R. Kelly type of songs I like least. R. Kelly always did songs about sex from time to time and sometimes they were fine sometimes not, but club songs was something quite new when he released the remix to Ignition a few years back and the song became a smash. R. Kelly had been making club songs in the past, often on other artists albums and even 2 disastrous collaboration albums with Jay-Z called (Best of Both Worlds, and Unfinnished Business). But recording an entire album in his own name with mostly Hip Hop influenced club songs full of guests is something new.
As aforementioned, "Double Up" got 2 themes that comes back on this album. Sex and Clubbing. R. Kelly got alot of help from guest artists like like Usher, Nelly and Chamillionaire etc. that I will introduce later on. At 40 I was really expecting something else from the Pied Piper then clubbing and more sex, but with this lineup I still had high hopes for this release. It would be fascinating to see what these guests could do with him, considering there are hardly these many guests on R. Kelly albums. Alright, let's take a look at the 18 songs on this album. First out is Swizz Beatz produced intro called "The Champ" where R. Kelly introduce himself as a legend that has been around for long and archieved almost everything and claimes he was the first to make music for "the hood", and based on this intro and the album cover you know what to expect and to what audience this album is dedicated to. Title track "Double Up" is next and feauture Snoop Dogg. It's basically a song about clubbing, as good story teller as he is this song lacks everything else. Annoying beats, no melody or hook and Snoop sounds like he always does. Next song "Tryin' to Get a Number" with Nelly sounds exacly the same as the previous with manufacted and annoying beats and the same theme about clubbing. "Get Dirty" with Chammilionaire (who promised he wouldn't say certain words on his new album). This song according to R. Kelly is dedicated to N*ggas, B*tches, Playas, Pimps and is just as bad as the previous two songs and sounds almost the same too. After a few club songs, a sex ballad to the honeys comes in "Leave Your Name"... After the beep, R. Kelly promise to call back cause he may be sleeping or making a baby. The song itself isn't that bad, but it's nothing new. "Freaky in the Club", is silly but catchy at the same time, It's about strippers or stripping I think, how original. On "The Zoo" R. Kelly makes metaphores to diffrent animals from the jungle when he's having sex. On the hook he uses a monkey sound, infact this song is so comical that it almost feels embarrasing. A remix of the Lil Bow Wow hit "I'm a Flirt" with T.I and T-Pain if you haven't got fed up with the original version aleady, infact both of them were released as singles and spent time simoultaneously on the chart.
The new single with Usher called "Same Girl" is the standout song on this album, it deals with a girl they both have been messing with without even knowing it. It's a good song and a duet with Usher can't go wrong. More of this thanks. "Real Talk" could have been "Trapped in the Closet" Version 10. It's a 3 minute long conversation song where he suppostely argues with his girlfriend who saw him in the club and is mad, I wonder what happended after these 3 minutes?. "Hook It Up" with new rapper Huey got better beats then alot of songs here but it also lacks interesting theme and is extremely repetitive. "Rock Star" sounds like nothing else on this album, a rocker with a really nice guitar riff. Ludacris and Kid Rock apepars, unfortunately the sexist and very explicit lyrics ruins it for me. It's basically about the lifestyle of a "Rock Star" having sex with groupies on demand. Haven't we heard this already?. One more pretty good song called "Best Friend" with talented Keyshia Cole, she's actually the only female that appears on this album, Polow Da Don himself also sings a few rhymes. This seems to be a triangle drama song about his girlfriend doing his bestfriend, and YES it sound alot like Trapped in The Closet aswell. "Rollin" is probably the worst song of this album, too repetitive and one-sided. Wonder how long it took to produce it, 5 or 10 minutes. Put your bet. "Sweet Tooth" is not too surprisingly a ballad about sex where he makes metaphors to food. It's alright without being over-the-top. "Having A Baby" a romantic song about how much he looks forward to become a father. Good song, but feels very missplaced on this album. "Sex Planet" probably takes the price for being the most explicit song even if it's a sweet ballad on the purpose. like "I Promise this will be painless, we take a trip to the planet Uranus" He also talks about "taste your milky way" and "enter into your black hole", If you don't know R Kelly, this is him in a nutshell and I actually think this song is quite funny and one of the better songs of this album. The closer that is also missplaced is called "Rise Up" and is a tribute to the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre.
Overall, As much of a fan of R. Kelly that I am (one of my all time favorite artists) this album can't be considered anything but a dissapointment. On R. Kelly releases you have sky high expectations and after the dissapointing TP3 I thought this album would be better. You know what this man is capable at his peak but at the same time you know what he is capable of at his lows. There are simpy too much club songs here and too many guest artists and feels like they don't add much new either. If the songs atleast had some good beats or hook like Ignition?. For the most part this album feels uninspired and repetitive. Like already mentioned The few more serious songs just feel missplaced and while some songs are quite alright here it isn't enough when others are just lame. At 40 R. Kelly only deals with clubbing and sex?. I'm truly dissapointed and I wouldn't recommend this album unless these 2 issues are what you like about his music. Sorry Kellz but You can do better.
Free Music Review: Double middle finger up
Hit: 2 Stars
When R. Kelly first came out in the early `90s, he successfully extended the new jack swing movement for a short time. And from his second album on, he started making more mature music with impressive results. But then somewhere around, say, 1998, he started making songs that seemed better tailored for men half his age, and then when he tried to go back, he would try too hard and end up with songs that were corny and overtly sexual at the same time. Such is the case with his latest offering, Double Up.
Kells' last album, TP.3 Reloaded, was garbage, and frankly, this album isn't much better. Now, Double Up IS a suitable title for the album because it's exactly 80 minutes long, which means that some songs could have been left behind -- actually, a LOT of songs (hence the two-star rating). In fact, all the other two-star reviews are pretty accurate (especially K.J. Bryant's review). First you have the filler tracks ("Freaky in the Club", "Tryin' to Get a Number", "Ringtone"); then you have the stories: "Same Girl" is okay, but "Best Friend" (with Keyshia Cole and Polow da Don) is skippable.
There's also the "I'm a Flirt" remix, which is the same story as the "Ignition" remix: you like the song but you have no idea why. And "Havin' a Baby" is pretty self-explanatory, but toward the end when Kells starts talking through the delivery process, it gets a little hard to get into. The necessary we-are-the-world song "Rise Up" is also good, but it feels out of place when compared to the rest of the album (more on that in a minute).
As usual, there are a lot of bad sexual metaphors, like "Sweet Tooth", "Sex Planet" and especially "The Zoo", which is complete with orangutan (and eventually elephant) sound effects. But there are other songs with problems as well. "Real Talk" has Kells goin' off on his girl for suggesting that he's sleeping around, and he's swearing just for the sake of swearing (and why does he keep saying Milton?). The title track boringly details threesomes; and "Rock Star" (with Ludacris and Kid Rock -- although Rock is only playing, so that really shouldn't count as a guest spot) proves that R. Kelly and rock music are like oil and water.
I guess I should be used to Kells aiming at the younger crowd nowadays, but he just isn't as good at it as he used to be; and the sex songs are still way too corny. Yeah, he can still sing, but he should keep his best songs for himself like he did earlier in his career. In short, Double Up is about as good as The Best of Both Worlds, so leave it in the store.
Anthony Rupert
Free Music Review: Scraping the barrel to the extreme
Hit: 2 Stars
We all know that R Kelly is a giant in R&B and I wouldnt take that away from him but have you noticed the decline of quality in his albums starting with Happy People/U Saved Me? Tp3.Reloaded is more proof of the downward spiral of quality in his music but even that album smokes this one. Besides this album having the same title of Mase's dookiefied Double Up what is the biggest flaw of the album? The biggest flaw of the album is R.Kelly himself. To say that R.Kelly has devolved is an understatement. He comes across as childish and boorish on this album and for a man his age to act like that is downright pitiful. The Good: Same Girl which features Usher is passable but that's it. The Bad: The Champ(which features Swizz Beatz and produced by The Runners) is the obligatory Ive-been-through-trials-and-tribulations track. Sweet Tooth and Sex Planet sound like they written by the writers of Mad TV plus lines like "I wanna taste your milky way" are corny to say the least. Leave A Message is pointless and tracks like Trying To Get A Number(feat.Nelly), Get Dirty(feat Chamillionare) and Hook It Up(feat.Huey) are asinine club records that should've been scrapped like this album. Best Friend(which feat Keyshia Cole and Polow Da Don)is a slum pitiful tale that falls short of Keep It Down Low and Trapped In The Closet big time. Double Up feat Snoop is just as weak.
The Ugly: Real Talk and Rollin' is R.Kelly at his sophomoric worst! Havin A Baby sounds like Half On A Baby on base. His first single I'm A Flirt(feat T.I and T-Pain) is so corny its sickening. I like T.I but my respect for him has dwindled because he's always showing up on such bad product. Freaky In The Club is another stupid song that sounds like it was written by the writers of Mad TV. The Zoo is R.Kelly's worst offence next to Real Talk and Rollin'. On the track R. Kelly brags about being a sexasaurus(????) and to top it off the track ends of with animal sounds(Yeah Kells. That's exactly what turns on the ladies. Animal sounds). Bottom Line: Creating Double Up is the biggest crime R.Kelly has ever comitted! Juvenile club records, lackluster love ballads, silly lyrics that sound like they were written by the writers of South Park and drab production sum up this album in a nutshell. Its safe to say that R.Kelly stopped making good albums after Chocolate Factory. This cow dung on wax clocks at 77:11 minutes. Thats 77:11 minutes of your life that you will never get back! I think that its about time that R.Kelly hang it up. After hearing this album, I think you'll agree.
Free Music Review: Reheated, Repetitive, and Redudant Kelly
Hit: 2 Stars
Although R. Kelly hasn't been a huge chart blazer over the past three or four years, you can't deny his talents one bit. He has two. One, is his deep, enriching, powerful voice. The other would be the commercial sense to keep releasing the same, washed up, Pizza Hut bland discs for years and still maintain his audience, at least his females. Kelly has also one more, the ability to make timeless comedies. (Trapped in the Closet) Aside from the last one, all of those talents are taken out of the freezer and put straight in the microwave for another go. And outcomes something that looks talented, fresh, and with the title Double Up, you'd expect something new or refreshing from Kelly, but that is all a faux. Instead we are treated with a reheat of TP.3 Reloaded, which was a reheat of Chocolate Factory. Nothing has changed; a ton of lukewarm club songs, some which hit and most which miss from piss poor lyrics and bland, drafted beats, and a few songs that totally scratch your head. The true R. Kelly fan would say his best years are long behind him, and he has been on a downhill path since The Best of Both Worlds. Of course the obvious standouts are ones with guest stars, such as "Double Up" with Snoop Dogg, "I'm a Flirt" with T.I. and T-Pain, "Same Girl" with Usher, and "Best Friend" with Keyshia Cole. The rest of the album can be placed in either the forgettable or dead-drop terrible categories. There's near countless pimping songs, like Chamillionaire assisted "Get Dirty", "Freaky in the Club", and "Rollin'", which some of, have fatal similes (see "The Zoo" and the absolutely atrocious and dead laughable "Sex Planet", with lines like "I want to taste your Milky Way"). Near all of the latter feature forgettable bars from R. Kelly. And a few songs suffer from having lame guest spots, especially the terrible lines from Huey on "Hook It Up", and the opening track "The Champ" featuring Swizz Beatz (who should stay away from rapping) is a complete mess. There's also a few new ideas that are just plain odd, like "Leave Your Name", which is a lame taping of R. Kelly leaving a girl a message that he was too drunk to get her name, and the Kid Rock assisted "Rock Star" is just a mess. While R. Kelly still delivers a few solid club songs from time to time on Double Up, there is no hiding that the album is not solid, and is lacking creativity, artistic growth, and depth that R. Kelly usually has no problem delivering on his 90's albums. Listen to the singles on the radio and wait for the next album. 2 stars.