R. Kelly - 'Untitled'

Regardless of what you think of R. Kelly, the man’s music is genius, and on this first album since his acquittal he maintains his position as R&B’s king.

This album is, like all of them, preoccupied with sex; it opens with “Crazy Night,” a fantastic club song despite both the Auto-Tune and the military-stutter drum pattern everyone’s using now. Every song here feels sexy – a feat, considering he sings about sex like he’s a 14-year-old who’s just discovered it – but you can’t deny the goodness of “Echo” (on which he makes yodeling sound cool), the atmospheric “Bangin’ the Headboard” and the absolutely perfect disco jam “Be My #2.”

This is a bit long at 15 tracks, and a few songs do sound terribly alike. (Did we mention all the sex?) We could have done without the uber-ghetto ode to cars, blunts and jewelry, “Supaman High” featuring OJ Da Juiceman, and the too-obviously-topical “Text Me,” but this is nonetheless a finely crafted album that’s sequenced to unfold masterfully.

– Malcolm Venable, The Pilot

Tracks to download  “Be My #2,” “Bangin’ the Headboard”

Buy "Untitled" (releases Dec. 1) (Link goes to Amazon.com)

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