R. Kelly announced he would be releasing a follow-up to his 2013 album, and he promised it would be lighter fare (you'll see what we did there). Few details were given regarding White Panties, but the title is enough for us to guess it will be in line with his last release, Black Panties. R. Kelly...you rascal.
Black Panties debuted at no. 4 on the Billboard 200 when it debuted during December of last year, and has sold 300,000 copies thus far. Those aren't the highest numbers the R&B vocalist has ever seen, but he suggested White Panties would be on a higher level. It better be. Its predecessor was carnal enough to push across the sexiness line into full-blown awkwardness.
"Ultimately, there isn't much to recommend with Black Panties," wrote Ryan Patrick of Exclaim! "Kelly is crazy talented, but has always been at his best when he controls his obsessions, not the other way around. Dogged by personal scandals for the better portion of his career, Kelly is unrepentant, unfazed, and unaware that just because he's in on the joke doesn't make it any less funny."
Alas, with a title like White Panties, we shouldn't get our hopes up. We are looking forward to the album art however. The first chapter of the Panties series featured Kelly as a pimp/Phantom of The Opera hybrid, holding a cello bow and a mostly-naked woman on his lap. We can only imagine what he's going to whip ou...what he's going to do for the follow-up.
In all seriousness however, there is one potential project from Kelly that we're sincerely looking forward to: The vocalist will be touring with Mary J. Blige later during 2014 and suggested that the pay might work on a dual-album.
