R. is the third solo album by American singer R. Kelly, released as a double album on November 10, 1998, by Jive Records. It marked the first time Kelly worked with other producers as opposed to producing the entire album himself. Its cover artwork uses the same image of Kelly from his 1993 debut 12 Play, only in silhouette form against a red and black background.
Upon its release, R. went to number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number two on the US Billboard 200, selling over 216,000 copies in its first week of sales. It spawned Kelly's second number-one Billboard Hot 100 hit, "I'm Your Angel", as well as the number-one Top R&B hit "I Believe I Can Fly", which had been released two years earlier on the Space Jam soundtrack. R. is currently Kelly's best-selling release to date, having sold over eight million copies in the United States and over 12.4 million copies worldwide.
Contents
Track listing
All songs written and produced by R. Kelly, except where noted.
Awards and nominations
BMI Awards – 1998 Pop Songwriter of the Year (won for "I Believe I Can Fly," "I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)," and "I Don't Want To by Toni Braxton)
Grammy Awards – 1999 Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals (nominated for "I'm Your Angel"), 2000 Best R&B Vocal Performance – Male (nominated for "When a Woman's Fed Up"), 2000 Best R&B Album (nominated)
Soul Train Music Awards – 1999 Best R&B/Soul Single, Male (nominated for "Half on a Baby"), 1999 Sammy Davis Jr. Entertainer of the Year Award (won), 1999 Best R&B/Soul Album, Male (won), 1999 Best R&B/Soul or Rap Album (won)
Samples
"V.I.P." contains a sample of "Alone" composed by Donald and Dalvin DeGrate and performed by Jodeci from the album Diary of a Mad Band.
Songs sampled in future songs:
"When a Woman's Fed Up"
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G" by Nas from the album I Am...
"Um Pouco Mais De Malandragem" by Facção Central from the album Família Facção (1999)
"America" by Trick Daddy featuring Society from the album Book of Thugs (2000)
"Runnin Out of Bud" by 8Ball & MJG featuring Killer Mike from the album Ridin High (2007)
"Thug Nigga" by Z-Ro from the album Heroin (2010)
"Broken Man" by Anthony Hamilton from the album Back to Love (2011)
"Thug and a Gee" by Prodeje from the album Hood 2 Da Good (2011)
"Smoke Break" by Lil B from the album "855" Song Based Freestyle Mixtape (2011)
"Smoke Break PT1 BASED FREESTYLE" by Lil B from the album "848" SONG BASED FREESTYLE MIXTAPE (2011)
"Neon Cathedral" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Allen Stone from the album The Heist (2012)
"Did You Ever Think"
"Streets Love Me" by Foxy Brown from the album Ill Na Na 2: The Fever
Covers
Palestinian rap group DAM has covered "Did You Ever Think".
