R Kelly. With his head so high in the clouds, you couldn’t imagine him walking down the shops for a pint of milk. To explain, the lead-up to TP.3 Reloaded is this – after achieving the status of king of r’n’b thanks to the vom-inducing ‘I Believe I Can Fly’, he gets charged for child sex abuse – yes, child sex abuse – after which he releases a double album about God and all things happy.
Yet, things get even more OTT with his latest release, which includes a 20-minute urban musical, tagged on the end of the CD and depicted in an accompanying DVD. Definitely not from our planet.
The ‘normal’ songs on the album, most of which sound exactly like you’d expect from the cream of the urban crop, are an elborate boast about how much the guy likes sex.
However, that’s not what the album will be remembered for in years to come. Not with the urban soap opera that is Trapped In The Closet at our disposal.
The tale is a five-part story of infidelity, told in such a way that it makes the latest Bollywood flick seem like a film noir. That’s how farcial it is. But, like a Bollywood movie, it’s fantastic for a bit of light entertainment.
It’s just that, if he thinks he’s taking music to another level, he’s mistaken. Anything of merit on this record is sadly ecplised by his giant ego. But bless him for giving us a giggle.