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What are your thoughts on MJ's work with R. Kelly?

Spaceship

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R. Kelly is a scumbag and I don't think any of MJ's songs with him are good. MJ's vocals on "You Are Not Alone" are nice, but it's a really generic pop ballad that anyone can sing. "Cry" is a joke. I like how "One More Chance" evokes MJ's work with Quincy Jones, but it's nothing impressive by MJ's standards. The fact so many of the adlibs are actually R. Kelly goes to show how little MJ actually cared for this song.
 
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Spaceship said:
R. Kelly is a scumbag and I don't think any of MJ's songs with him are good. MJ's vocals on "You Are Not Alone" are nice, but it's a really generic pop ballad that anyone can sing. "Cry" is a joke. "One More Chance" is just a generic R&B ballad.
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šŸ˜‚ You don't rate R _Kelly's song writing abilities do you lol.
 
I always thought Cry was a silly song lyrically, so never played it. Listened to it yesterday, and it was all I wanted to hear. Now, I love the anthematic quality of it. YANA is brilliant songwriting imo, but can't be bothered listening to it, bit boring. OMC, wow, that's my jam, what a pop song. I would go as far to say it's one of the quientisential MJ pop song of the 2000s.
 
I love OMC I play it regularly, the other 2 I have not played since I joined Spotify in 2016

OMC has my fave MJ vocals of the 2000s decade and I also love the videoclip. Too bad it stayed under the radar but then again not surprising. It is probably MJā€™s worst performing worldwide released single together with cry. His last 3 singles really were a shambles. WMCIG takes the crown of ultimate failure.
 
"One More Chance" came out at the wrong time; the Bashir doc tarnished MJ's already tarnished image and the second set of allegations was the final nail in the coffin. Maybe it would have done alright if it was released in 2001 as part of Invincible, though. It sounds like MJ's "You Rock My World" meets R. Kelly's "Ignition" turned into a balald.
 
All 3 tracks are decent. YANA is the best one because it straight up hit number 1 right away. The song is great, the music video....not so much.

Cry is good but IMO should have been on a 9/11 tribute album instead. It would have done better that route instead of on Invincible. One More Chance was better then Cry and IMO that should have been on Invincible since it was considered his "comeback" album.
 
One More Chance is better than Cry and should've been on Invincible instead.
Michael didn't need Cry. He had his version of What More Can I Give.
 
I'm pretty sure MJ finished recording his vocals for "What Can I Give" after 9/11. Production had already finished for the album by then.

MJ didn't need "Cry" or "What Can I Give", anyway. "We've Had Enough" is better than both of those.
 
YANA - 7/10. It isnā€™t a great song, and does seem to go on for a bit long, which makes it a bit boring, but I have a soft spot for the song, as this was the song that turned me into a Michael fan.

Cry: 5/10. It has its moments, and can be quite emotive, but it is a poor manā€™s Man In The Mirror, which isnā€™t necessarily a bad thing.

One More Chance: 1/10. I have never liked this song. I am not a fan of the MJā€™s vocals, I donā€™t like the sound of it. The timing of the release doesnā€™t help either.
 
I quite like one more chance, YANA I listen to acapella a lot but the actual song annoys me.
 
Not a massive of R Kelly's writing, but that last 2 minutes of adlibs at the end of YANA is phenomenal.

The Ultimate Collection version is glorious, I'm not crazy about YANA, but I could take 7 minutes of MJ adlibbing like that, such soulful vocals

I'm not a fan of Cry and even though One More Chance isn't bad, its way below Michael's standard.
 
Nite Line said:
One More Chance: 1/10. I have never liked this song. I am not a fan of the MJā€™s vocals, I donā€™t like the sound of it. The timing of the release doesnā€™t help either.
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Wait 'til you find out most of the vocals are actually R Kelly's and not MJ's :p
 
NeoGardiV8 said:
Quite a bunch of them, a lot of the ad-libs, even part of the verses (like "Tell em this for me") are actually just R Kelly making an impression of MJ.
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The "tell her this for me", at around 3.09 of the official video, sounds like Mike to me. It's interesting that if that is Mike, they didn't just reuse the same clip over the verses, save using R Kelly's impersonation in the verses
 
NeoGardiV8 said:
Quite a bunch of them, a lot of the ad-libs, even part of the verses (like "Tell em this for me") are actually just R Kelly making an impression of MJ.
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Thanks. I didnā€™t know that at all. Something always sounded off about ā€œMJā€™s vocalsā€ on OMC. Now I know why.
 
Nite Line said:
Thanks. I didnā€™t know that at all. Something always sounded off about ā€œMJā€™s vocalsā€ on OMC. Now I know why.
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Well, the main reason as to why they sound off (the MJ parts that is.) Is because of the heavy early 2000s autotune applied to the lead vocals, it was already a thing in Invincible but IMO it was done way more tastefully than One More Chance.
 
SmoothCriminal1995 said:
The "tell her this for me", at around 3.09 of the official video, sounds like Mike to me. It's interesting that if that is Mike, they didn't just reuse the same clip over the verses, save using R Kelly's impersonation in the verses
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Yep, that sounds like Mike to me too.
However, right after that part (around 3:17) there's an ad-lib that also ends with the word "me", i think that one is Kelly, too
 
ā€œYou Are Not Aloneā€ isnā€™t groundbreaking, but itā€™s a lovely ballad with a great vocal. I personally love it, though I can see why itā€™s not everyoneā€™s cup of tea.

ā€œCryā€ is one of the worst songs MJ ever put vocals to.

ā€œOne More Chanceā€ is a bit plain, but itā€™s also enjoyable and easy listening. I place it in a similar category as ā€œThe Girl Is Mine.ā€

Overall, R. Kellyā€™s work isnā€™t astounding, but itā€™s usually competent enough to warrant MJ recording it.
 
Hate Cry. Used to love YANA but heard it too many times. One More Chance is alright. Hardly ever play it on purpose put when it comes by on shuffle I won't skip it.

Love R. Kelly, especially the older albums.
 
I think YANA song and video balances out now thanks to Lisa Marie. In a way it just, kinda makes more sense now. I've fluctuated between liking and not liking it at different times. I'd hardly call it replaceable, though.

Cry is pretty basic. It's good in a "megamix" of all the anthems but all the other anthems, I like way more. It does have that same sorta folksy vibe a lot of MJs self compossed ballads have though (The Lost Children, People of the World, Heal The World, Days in Gloucestershire, etc).

One More Chance is my actual favorite. Hearing that song was a revelation tbh. But I preferred the faster remix at the time. The slower version took time to grow on me. It's a more appealing ballad to me than Hold My Hand for sure.
 
Spaceship said:
R. Kelly is a scumbag and I don't think any of MJ's songs with him are good. MJ's vocals on "You Are Not Alone" are nice, but it's a really generic pop ballad that anyone can sing. "Cry" is a joke. I like how "One More Chance" evokes MJ's work with Quincy Jones, but it's nothing impressive by MJ's standards. The fact so many of the adlibs are actually R. Kelly goes to show how little MJ actually cared for this song.
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R. Kelly is a super talented R&B artist. I like his work. His other 'work' I have reservations about. A Belgian artist successfully won a case arguing the song was plagiarised. MJ loved the song enough to put it on his album. I think it was one of his (?) weaker efforts.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
One More Chance is my actual favorite. Hearing that song was a revelation tbh. But I preferred the faster remix at the time. The slower version took time to grow on me. It's a more appealing ballad to me than Hold My Hand for sure.
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Faster mix? Fan made or official MJ approved mix? What and where is it?
 
I don't really listen to that stuff but I loved when m was enjoying himself , listening to kellys work

šŸ–¤
Oh, Michael I miss you so.

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he wrote the best songs for himself, but the ones for MJ are good
 
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