R Kelly: Black Panties

Twenty years on from 12 Play, his debut album, R Kelly gives us a 21st-century coda, where nuance is replaced by a sense of the flesh, along with his unmistakable quick-fire rap singing and falsetto. The production slopes along with synths, vocoders and improbable lyrics. Throw This Money on You states "girl, our eyes are making love", while Cookie's percussion resembles a broken motorbike framing some of Kelly's more questionable thoughts. Black Panties is as direct as its artwork, in which Kelly channels the Phantom of the Opera and attempts to play a semi-naked woman like a cello. Yet at time its leaner-sounding production provides a counterpoint to its explicitness. Genius and Spend That look back to earlier, melodious work, as does Right Back, which recalls Bone Thugs and Harmony. The implausible 2 Chainz pops up on My Story, but this is neutralised by the pleasing retro-soul sermon Shut Up, an open letter urging us not to forget that "every child around the world from the '90s up until the day was made off me".

Download: Genius, Shut Up