"Contagious" is a song by

the Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

. It was released as a single from their 2001 album ''

Eternal Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to: * Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state * Immortality or eternal life * God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism Comics, film and television * ...

''. The song was written and produced by

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and sex offender convicted of racketeering and multiple sex offenses. During his recording career, Kelly sold over 75 million records worldwid ...

, who was also featured on the song, and also features vocals by R&B singer

Chanté Moore Chanté Torrane Moore (born February 17, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, television personality, and author. Rising to fame in the early 1990s, Moore established herself as an R&B singer. Her debut studio album '' Precious'' w ...

. The video plays as a mini

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

depicting a man who goes home and finds out his woman has been cheating on him with another man. The song is taken to another level during the breakdown of the song, where the two men, Mr. Biggs and Kelly, meet once again after their previous collaboration on Kelly's 1995 single " Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)" (although they also collaborated on

Kelly Price Kelly Cherelle Price (born April 4, 1973) is an American R&B and gospel singer. She started her singing career in 1992. Price originally garnered attention by singing backing vocals for Mariah Carey on multiple songs, including her ''Billboa ...

's 1998 single " Friend of Mine"). In the middle of the second verse, Ron Isley goes down memory lane after saying "The down low happened to me all over again"; additionally, the third verse starts with Mr. Biggs asking R. Kelly "What the hell is going on between the sheets in my own home?", reprising their meeting in the Kelly Price song as well as the title of his own hit " Between the Sheets", and R. Kelly accuses Mr. Biggs (who recalls seeing him before) of mistaken identity. "Contagious" rose to number 19 on the pop singles chart and number 3 on the R&B singles chart and made the Isleys the first group to score a hit in six consecutive decades on ''Billboards Hot 100. The breakthrough helped their 2001 album ''Eternal'' go double platinum. In 2002, the song won a

Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band or Duo In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

. R. Kelly makes a cameo in the 2003 follow-up song "Busted" that is told from the prospective of Mr. Biggs and his current partner. In the video, he is seen returning the woman to Mr. Biggs's home before she is confronted about the affair.

Single track listing

#"Contagious" (Clean Radio Edit) - 4:27 #"Contagious" (Radio Edit) - 4:27 #"Contagious" (LP Version) - 5:46 #"Contagious" (Instrumental) - 5:46 #"Contagious" (A Capella) - 5:41

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

2001 songs 2001 singles The Isley Brothers songs Song recordings produced by R. Kelly Songs written by R. Kelly DreamWorks Records singles Songs about infidelity Chanté Moore songs {{2000s-pop-song-stub