To the most beautiful song of the late 1990s.
Yes friends, the most beautiful and romantic song of the 1990s is none other than the sexually suggestive and sometimes awkward 12 Play by R. Kelly. Because when it comes to love, ain’t things always awkward ?
Untitled Song, also called 12 Play, is a slow and intimate ballad from the debuts of R. Kelly. It has perhaps all that makes 90s songs so memorable and recognizable : claves, smooth synth organ and piano, and slow mellow drums to make you dance passionately through the summer night.
But instead of being just another 90s cliché, this song brings on the R. Kelly touch : lyrics only him can shout and wail without seeming absolutely ridiculous. Yes friends, the art of Robert Kelly is such that he can sing “Sex in the kitchen” and “Like two gorillas in a jungle making love” (Snake, 2003) without making us burst in laughter. Rather than that : coming from him it all makes sense and there is no place for laugh, but for intense emotion pictured by his striking and unique lyrics.
12 Play stands on the side of longer songs, and this fits perfectly with Kelly’s lyrics. Using a numbered pattern, the emotional intensity is slowly escalating to the highest summit of passion…
“One, we’ll go to my room of fun…”
It all starts like a game, but quickly we realize that “Three, ’cause tonight I’m here to fulfill your fantasies”, it’s not for kids.
Like Marvin Gaye decades earlier in his warm and deep “I want you” album, Kelly portrays physical love in a most explicit yet beautiful and spiritual way. It’s always easy to say it, but ain’t we here in the biblical lineage of the Canticles of Canticles ? “Come my beloved…”
But this ain’t no bis repetita, the Kelly lyrical touch is here and makes it a unique work.
After the list is counted, R Kelly just Breaks it down in a slow and dreamy outro… with a typical 90s fade out, we are left to wonder : did she say yes to such a program ? Did her beloved get some of his 12 Play ?
I guess we’ll never know…
And if it’s to much for your puritan tastes, listen to the soulful and gospel hit Sadie from the same album. It’s about his mother and Sunday school, yet it’s probably another of the most beautiful songs of the 90s.
