Kelly has shrugged off the celeb cameos that littered his prescandal work (though, be honest, would Celine Dion guest on an R. Since Happy People/U Saved Me delivers two distinct and cohesive albums, it could conceivably offer further ammunition for those defenders of Kelly who claim that he's made the best music of his career when under fire. But U Saved Me isn't far behind as a cohesive work either, perhaps lacking the hooks of its companion, but never deviating from its religious schmaltz, which is delivered with the conviction of a good carnival huckster. As a record, it's assured and coherent, with little flab and a consistent vision it's one of his strongest efforts. It's a seduction record and seduction has always been Kelly's strength, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise that it, overall, is the more successful album of the two, the one that sustains its romantic mood and delivers it with stylish economy. In contrast, Happy People is all about the women and, at times, the healing power of love.
That's the essence of U Saved Me: it's one of the rare religious albums where it's all about the man, not the Lord. No matter how Kelly pleas for forgiveness though, he's singing as if he's already been saved, as if he's taken salvation for granted.
U SAVED ME R KELLY DRIVER
He may switch the specific sins - instead of a pedophile and pornographer, he's a drunk driver on the title track, merely a rogue on "How Did You Manage" - in effort to absolve himself of guilt from any real-life accusations, yet this still gives him the opportunity to ask for forgiveness for any number of unnamed sins. On both Happy People and U Saved Me Kelly's motives are transparent as they were on "Sex Me" - there's never been much subtext to his music, which makes his newfound sincerity suspect, particularly on the religious U Saved Me. It's hard not to believe this character redefinition is a calculated move - not in the least because it coincides with the lack of a Parental Warning label and a noticeable abandonment of his trademark explicitness - designed to strengthen the fans, lure the listeners who don't care, and win over, if not skeptics, at least potential jurors. Kelly is heading off any allegations that he's a criminal by painting himself as a saved sinner who still struggles with temptation, struggles that are chronicled joyfully on Happy People and with remorse on U Saved Me. The first, Happy People, is a seductive, late-night album about positivity and love, the second all about salvation and God. That, in a nutshell, are the themes of Happy People/U Saved Me, a double disc containing two distinct albums (just like OutKast's Speakerboxx/The Love Below). Instead of getting defiant - as did Michael Jackson, when he attacked prosecutor Tom Sneddon in the embarrassing, barely veiled "D.S." - Kelly spins his notoriety for sympathy, acknowledging that he's a flawed man and a sinner, but he believes in God and he's just looking for love and peace. Without them, he can't play the martyr, which he eagerly does, both directly and indirectly, on the music he's made since the scandal.
The heightened graphic sexuality of his oeuvre feeds suspicions that the allegations, even if they can't be proved, have weight, which makes it very hard for some listeners to hear Kelly's music without thinking of the scandals.Īnd, when it comes down to it, Kelly doesn't really want you to forget those scandals either. His catalog is soaked in sex and gleefully shallow, celebrating the pleasures of the moment, whether it's carnal ("Bump n' Grind") or corny ("I Believe I Can Fly"). Of course, a whirlwind of similar charges, including an annulled marriage to the teenage Aaliyah, doesn't exactly help matters either, nor does his music.
If the child pornography allegations leveled against him weren't so heinous (not to mention detailed and allegedly supported by videotapes), and if he weren't so quick to paint himself as a martyr - highlighted by, but not limited to, him bizarrely empathizing with Osama Bin Laden in a 2003 interview with Blender Magazine - it might be easier to ignore his trials and tribulations and focus on the art. Kelly implore listeners to separate the music from the man, which is a good rule to follow in general, but the specifics of his case make it a little harder to do.
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