Last Friday night, I saw R. Kelly perform his “Ladies Make Some Noise” tour at ODU’s The Ted.

Now, I’m not a big R&B fan and don’t own any R. Kelly albums, but there’s something in this guy that can only be described as genius.

Next to the length of R. Kelly’s career, I’m a brand new fan and unfamiliar with most of the songs he sang live. I was introduced to him by a friend who emailed me a link to his music video “Real Talk” (watch video below). I watched the self-recorded video, pressed the play button again, and (after the initial shock wore off) I was sold. I couldn’t believe this was the same guy who won three Grammy’s for the famous song “I Believe I can Fly,” originally featured in the movie Space Jam. The then-and-now comparison left me dying to know more.

Around the same time, I learned that R. Kelly wrote and filmed an epic hip-hopera called “Trapped in the Closet.” This is an on-going project for Kelly, who has released 22 chapters to date. The story focuses around the character “Sebastian”(played by Kelly) who, after having a one-night stand, gets tangled up in an ever-changing, complex and dramatic storyline; all sung by Kelly over a rhythmic beat with the occasional instrumental accent for effect. Kelly is fun to watch on the big screen. As the narrator, he smoothly weaves the story in and out of different scenes, characters, and subplots. Although it may be unorthodox, this is absolutely a work of raw beautiful art. R. Kelly plays five different characters, a performance that recalls  the multiple roles played by Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove and Mike Myers in Austin Powers; it’s exciting just waiting to see what character he’ll pop up as next. In its current evolutionary state, the story ends with the words “to be continued.” The third installment was rumored to hit the shelves in the summer of 2009, however it has yet to be released.

At the show, R. Kelly evoked some heartwarming moments. He openly celebrated the conclusion of his six-year trial, mentioning that the tour was his first since the scandalous court case where he was charged for 15 counts of child pornography and found not guilty in the summer of 2008. He thanked the audience for sticking with him through the ordeal. Kelly then sang a few great covers of Sam Cooke songs in dedication to his deceased mother and did a brief tribute to Michael Jackson, for whom he both wrote and produced songs. During the tribute, he played a home video of Michael Jackson sitting in the back of a car and rocking out to Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix).”

Photo | Alexandra Fenton

Kelly performed songs ranging across the span of his 20+ year career, including a couple from his latest album Untitled. The show’s production had an old-school feeling: R Kelly clad in a t-shirt, jeans, and moderate bling, against a translucent screen behind which the accompanying band played. The Washington Post described R. Kelly’s show with these words:

“… dialing back the bells and whistles (and gratuitous wardrobe changes), Kelly revealed the hidden elegance of his craft. His arrangements were sturdy, his melodies were crisp and his lyrics flowed like conversation — albeit the kind that normally costs $1.99 a minute.”

It was as close to a no-frills show as you can get with red and white confetti shot towards the audience during the last song.

So what’s the deal with R. Kelly? Honestly, I have no idea. I went to the show hoping to learn whether he is a total weirdo or a complete genius and ended up leaving with more questions than I came with. Musically, he’s definitely on point. I think anyone would be hard pressed to realistically say that someone who’s collaborated, produced, and/or written for singers like Toni Braxton, The Notorious B.I.G., Celine Dion, Michael Jackson, and Janet Jackson sucks. At the same time he has been accused of possessing and creating underage pornography multiple times, which leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. At this point, all I can say is that it’s a hell of a mystery. The biography on his website refers to R. Kelly as:

“the multi-instrumentalist, producer and vocalist [who] continues to forge an artistic path that caters to fantasy and captures the hearts of adoring fans, which is in essence, how an artist sells over 34 million records, and wears the crown of a king.

I guess until I get it all figured out, I’m going to stick with this. Hats off to you Mr. Kelly!