Having many classic influences such as Ronald Isley and Marvin Gaye, growing up in Chi-town, he has been a success story since the inception of his Jive career. This album shows his range and diversity of styles and ideas, albeit on a double CD, and yes, it does suffer from the 2CD phenomenon of running out of ideas, or just getting plain boring after listening to so much from one artist. Some other cats have been roped in to lend assistance behind the boards and on the mic, but the majority are solo joints on this 30 track deep album. The sales of "I Believe I Can Fly" has led to a wider fan base, and in turn there is more pop-orientated music than there ever was on the previous albums. The most obvious one is the Celine Dion duet "I'm Your Angel", which is such a blatant attempt, it will succeed in that market, but it definitely is a no-no for a real R&B/Soul fan.

There are many rapper-featuring tracks and booty-shaking music here, as well as the slow jams, an opera track ("The Opera") and slow jams. The single "Home Alone" is a floor filler featuring the most beautifulest Keith Murray pre-lockdown. Very infectious indeed. A lot of peeps will be feeling "We Ride" on a chilled out groove with a plethora of rapping talent: heavy hitters Cam'ron, Noreaga, Jay-Z and new kids on the block Vegas Cats. It is nothing really special though, Robert Kelly singing a hook and the rappers constructing the verses. Fellow Chicago natives Crucial Conflict appear on the stutter-beat "Ghetto Queen", a track that is perfect for them. "Dollar Bill" incorporates the 90s Material Girl, Foxy Brown, still spitting the same rhymes: "you know my style/doggy style from the back". She still on the money sh*t, but her flow sounds more and more like Lil Kim's the more I hear her recent stuff. Trackmasters lay down the production for this one, and it ain't too bad but not hot either. The title of the song gives away the whole concept and reason for the song. The same subject and production team are again utilised on "Money Makes the World Go Round", but this time supplanting Foxy B. with the man formerly known as Nasty Nas, now Nas Escobar. This is a problem with the album in general and most double CDs. Is it really necessary to explore the same material many times ? Won't one time just do ?

It is not all bad by a long shot, though. R. Kelly attempts to rise above his peers and experiment with styles that are not accepted nowadays. Check the 60s throwback "If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time". It's nice, but wouldn't have cut it in those heady days of talented artists. The afore-mentioned Opera-styled track is here, as is the normal staple for every album - interludes/skits. They don't really detract from the overall experience, gently providing a breather from the sheer length of the opus. There are highlights such as the other single, "Home Alone", featuring the singing style he started with remixes from his past album. "Spendin' Money" is another catchy funky tune; the slow jam "When A Woman's Fed Up" showing shades of the blues; "Only The Loot Can Make Me" has the arch-samplers Track Masters recycling yet another familiar groove, this time a mid-tempo groove, with another money-orientated theme. A guitar is used to good effect on "Suicide", while "V.I.P." uses a sample that evokes memories of Jodeci, and indeed it is from "Alone". Songs like "Bump and Grind" have been re-done in the form of "2nd Kelly". Whatever happened to his new-found Christian values ?