5 / 10
Incredibly ambitious or plain indecisive when it came to finalising the track listing, Robert Kelly has decided to unleash 30 tracks on an unsuspecting world in the form of 'R'. Depending on your viewpoint, collaborating with people so far apart in the musical scheme of things it seemed like a spoof is at best genius or at worst simply bizarre. Never before and more than likely ever again will Celine Dion guest on the same set as the likes of Nas, Puffy and Foxy Brown.
The, ahem, musical open mind of Mr Kelly is highlighted further by the album displaying club joints such as 'You Ever Think' and the brilliant 'Home Alone' nestling alongside Radio Two playlist candidates like 'I Believe I Can Fly' and the righteous 'If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time'.
When history looks back at the career of R Kelly, this work will stand out, but whether it shows up as being pop genius or R&B sludge, only time will tell.
Sam Faulkner
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