I'm having an R. Kelly moment

I was at home this weekend, brushing my teeth in my bathroom at my parents' house, when a song on the radio caught my ear: It was the track above, the remix of Raheem DeVaughn's "Customer," featuring the remix-killer himself, R. Kelly. I loved this song immediately and once again thanked my lucky stars for DC radio (93.9 WKYS and 95.5 WPGC, specifically). I could not think of a better song to capture this particular moment in the summer of 2008.

During this process of studying for the bar, I have turned to many things for solace and comfort, but now the main thing propelling me forward is: R. Kelly. I know, I know, I shouldn't like him, he's gross and likes to pee on young women, but his music is just so GOOD. Further browsing on YouTube led me to the video for his most recent single, "Hair Braider." The track is very derivative of T-Pain, and R. is hiding his vocal talents behind an auto tune, and the lyrics are inane and juvenile. But durn if I don't sort of love it! The laziness of the groove, the head-noddingness of it...I don't even know. No one else will like this song, some of you will laugh at me for loving it, but what are you gonna do.



Finally, my YouTube odyssey led me to this remix Kels did over Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body." For a song with the cockroach-like sustainability of "Touch My Body," I thought Kelly added some unexpectedly interesting stuff.



So that's my R. Kelly menu for now. I've always loved R. Kelly, from the days of "Bump & Grind," "Your Body's Callin," "You Remind Me of Something," "Feelin on Yo Booty," and everything since. I think he has pretty much defined male R&B in the last 15 years (arguably). No one can self-aggrandize like him, and no one can beat a metaphor to death like him. Although he has shown himself to be a freak and a true weirdo, I like what he's doing lately.

(So based on his lyrics, I should do what, then? Tip him? ....No, probably not.) Once again, thank God for R&B.