ARTIST

R. Kelly

A slick R&B soul man for the '90s, Chicagoan Robert Kelly has what it takes to become the Marvin Gaye of a new generation.

Kelly introduced his jeep beats and bedroom grooves in 1992, but he showed that he was really a player with the 1993 follow-up, 12 Play, which claimed the number one spot on the R&B charts for several months, and which had folks such as Michael Jackson calling up anxious to collaborate with him in the wake of his well-publicized scandals.

Kelly showed his musical roots in gospel and hinted lyrically at a deep and complicated spirituality with his self-titled third album. It indicated that after three platinum albums, he was still just warming up.

Kelly went on to score hits with the Space Jam anthem "I Believe I Can Fly" and the Celine Dion-duet "I'm Your Angel," as well as the more racy "Feelin' On Yo Booty."

Although his collaborative effort with Jay-Z, The Best Of Both Worlds performed poorly amid the scandal, Kelly came back strong in 2003 with Chocolate Factory, proving that sometimes you can't keep a man -- good or bad, down.

Written by Jim Derogatis