"I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)" is a single by American R&B singer

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 ...

from his 1995 eponymous album. The song spent two weeks at number one on the US ''

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'' Hot R&B Singles chart (Kelly's sixth number-one R&B hit) and peaked at number five on the ''Billboard''

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. Outside the US, the single reached the top 20 in New Zealand, peaking at number 14.

Background

Kelly wrote this song after he split from his girlfriend at that time, whom he was deeply in love with. In 2010, Kelly said he still has not gotten over this girl, who remained anonymous. He ranked this song as one of his favorites that he has recorded. In his autobiography, Kelly states that he originally intended the song to be recorded by Toni Braxton. However, Braxton was unhappy about the fact that they would not be writing together, and she disagreed with Kelly over how the melody would be sung. They agreed to disagree, and Kelly recorded the song himself.

Critical reception

A reviewer from '' Music Week'' rated the song three out of five, adding, "Sounding more like

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than R Kelly, this sickly-sweet ballad will nevertheless attract the usual crowd." The magazine's Alan Jones wrote that it is "a tender ballad softly sung by Kelly (until the ad-lib outro, where he emotes more forcefully, but no less tastefully) with a restrained groin-grinding backing. Fragile but powerful, it floats in on a breeze, and deserves to be a huge summer hit."

Music video

The music video for both the original and the remix is directed by Hype Williams. The music video for the original song opens with R. Kelly, driving on a snowy road. He is then shown singing outside a house and then inside the house. He drives to a phone booth, finishing the song outside. Finally, wearing a fur coat, he sees a helicopter, boards it, and it flies away.

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features on the video of the remix.

Live performance

R. Kelly does not often perform this song despite its huge success. The first time he performed this song was at "The Down Low Top Secret Tour" in 1996.

Legacy

The song was number one on the R&B/hip hop charts for two weeks and peaked at number five on the Pop Chart. In 2011, Gospel singer Genita Pugh sampled this song for her single "Can't Live" on her album ''My Purpose''. In 2017, American hip hop rapper PnB Rock sampled this song for his song "Hanging Up My Jersey" (featuring Ty Dolla Sign) on his album GTTM: Goin Thru the Motions.

Background

Critical reception

Music video

Live performance

Legacy

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

See also