''Untitled'' is the ninth studio album by American R&B recording artist

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 worldwi ...

. It was released by Jive Records on December 1, 2009. It was entirely produced by R. Kelly and a team of younger producers.Stewart, Allison
Review: ''Untitled''
''

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''. Retrieved on 2009-12-01. The album debuted at number 4 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, and also reached the top of the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated ...

chart. ''Untitled'' received generally mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. The album has sold over 500,000 copies.

Background

In 2008, the album's title was initially supposed to be released under the name ''12 Play: 4th Quarter'', however, that version of this project leaked before release and so it was decided that the whole project should be re-recorded. That title is still referenced in several songs on the album.

Singles

Supaman High featuring

OJ da Juiceman Otis Williams Jr. (born November 23, 1981), better known by his stage name OJ da Juiceman, is an American rapper. OJ da Juiceman was formerly signed to Gucci Mane's 1017 Brick Squad record label. OJ Da Juiceman is also the founder of vanity labe ...

was supposed to be the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

, but due to a label and artist dispute, it was repurposed as a promotional single for the album The album's lead single, "

Number One Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

" featuring

Keri Hilson Keri Lynn Hilson (born December 5, 1982) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and actress. She was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia and spent most of her youth working with producer Anthony Dent as a songwriter and background vocalist for ...

, was released on July 28, 2009. The song peaked at number 59 on the US '' Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 7 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

charts. Both second and third singles, "

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" and "

Echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

" (both released October 10, 2009), charted lower, with peak positions of numbers 48 and 52 respectively on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

Critical reception

''Untitled'' received generally positive reviews from music critics.''Untitled'' Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. Retrieved on 2011-02-16. At

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 62, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

writer Andy Kellman gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars and called it "a simple, concept-free, creatively unambitious R&B album". Mikael Wood of '' Spin'' complimented the album's "fresh raunch", noting "'Bangin' the Headboard' and 'Pregnant' (as in 'You make me wanna get you…') are bawdy even by Kelly's considerable standards".Wood, Mikael (January 2010)
Review: ''Untitled''
'' Spin''. Retrieved on 2011-02-16. Tom Horan of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' praised Kelly's "unwavering focus" and stated, "should headboard-banging be in the offing, this will make a fine accompaniment." In a mixed review, ''

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''s

Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin (; born April 24, 1976) is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for '' The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.

gave the album a C+ rating and commented that it "feels generic".Rabin, Nathan
Review: ''Untitled''
''

''. Retrieved on 2009-12-14. Drew Hinshaw of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

'' found it lacking any "larger themes from ''Untitled''s sex seminars" and stated, "It's tragic to see a master of r&b finesse fall back onto a childish, domineering bent that comes off as boorish, entitled, and mean-spirited."Hinshaw, Drew
Review: ''Untitled''
''

''. Retrieved on 2009-12-01. ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' writer

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

wrote that Kelly "massages simple (and sometimes simplistic) words into hooks through phrasing that is pliant, inventive, audacious, sometimes silly", commenting that "That ardor is framed by music that is everything his lyrics are not: subtle, ornate, at times downright refined. As a producer and arranger, he is meticulous with detail, orchestrating hand claps, finger snaps and drum machines to create just the right rhythm backdrop for an evening of 'wooo and weee'".Kot, Greg
Review: ''Untitled''
''

''. Retrieved on 2009-11-27.

Jon Pareles Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' found the album "routine" for Kelly, although he stated, "Still, even a routine R. Kelly song outshines much of the competition."Pareles, Jon
Review: ''Untitled''
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. Retrieved on 2009-11-30.

Accolades

In 2011, ''Untitled'' was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for

Best Contemporary R&B Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the contemporary ...

, presented at the

53rd Grammy Awards The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights pri ...

.Nominees: 2010 - 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards
Grammy.com. Retrieved on 2010-12-02.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 4 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 110,000 copies in its first week, marking his ninth top five album on the chart. As of June 2022, the album sold over 500,000 copies in the United States. A disappointing performance compared to his previous album Double Up which debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 and sold over 1,000,000 copies

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2009 albums R. Kelly albums Albums produced by Jack Splash Albums produced by Jazze Pha Albums produced by R. Kelly Jive Records albums