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Chocolate Factory

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Untitled

Chocolate Factory is the fifth studio album by American R&B and soul musician R. Kelly, released February 18, 2003 on Jive Records.[1] Recording sessions for the album took place during 2001 to 2003 at Rockland Studios and Chicago Recording Company in Chicago, Illinois, and it was entirely produced by R. Kelly.[11] Despite issues surrounding R. Kelly's sex scandal at the time, Chocolate Factory experienced a great deal of commercial success.[12] The album received generally positive reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 64/100 from Metacritic.[13] It received rave reviews from publications, including The New York Times, People, and USA Today. On May 19, 2003, the album was certified double platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), following sales in excess of 2 million copies in the United States.[14]

Reception

Commercial performance

Released after the singer had gone through a year of controversy for a now-infamous videotape alleged to show Kelly and an underage girl having sex, the album proved to be a major success for R. Kelly, debuting at number one on the Billboard Pop Albums chart, while selling more than 532,000 copies in its first week of release.[15] After the release of Kelly's hit single, "Ignition (Remix)", which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, the album eventually went on to sell over 3 million copies in the United States alone.[16]

Other hits released off of Chocolate Factory included "Snake" featuring Big Tigger, which peaked at #16, and the classic soul-inspired "stepper's anthem", "Step in the Name of Love", which peaked at #9. The album's packaging design is very similar to the design of Parliament's Chocolate City album. As of May 19, 2003, Chocolate Factory has been certified multi-platinum in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America, selling over 3 million copies in the United States following only two months of release.[14]

Critical response

Chocolate Factory received generally positive reviews from music critics, based on an aggregate score of 64/100 from Metacritic.[13] The album received rave reviews from publications such as The New York Times, People, and USA Today among others.[17] Mojo magazine wrote "Chocolate Factory seems positively inspired... An impressively varied opus.(5/03, p.100), and a BBC Music reviewer wrote of Chocolate Factory, stating "...It's apparent that the troubled star has found a happy medium to create a release, the joyous screams are frequent; he doesn't sound like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, but a revived soul in spiritual euphoria." (4/03, pp.173-4).[18][19] Some reviewers, however, cited Kelly's controversial lyricisim as flaws in the album's material, while also criticizing its quality.[20] Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis cited Chocolate Factory as "among the best work of his career" and went on to write "... as a singer, songwriter and producer, he's at the top of his game."[6]

Upon release, many critics and writers scrutinized the album's sexually-explicit content and juxtaposed it to Kelly's controversial allegations of sexual misconduct at the time. In a review of the album for Yahoo! Music, columnist Dan Leroy wrote of the content of Chocolate Factory, stating "Kelly’s hot-blooded horniness is an integral part of his persona; he can hardly back away from the risque R&B that’s made him what he is, despite the underage sex scandal that dogs him. And in fact, on the long-awaited Chocolate Factory, Kelly’s best when he shows no shame in his game—defiantly dirty double entendres like 'Ignition' and 'Showdown' make you think less about his troubles than the self-pitying 'Heaven I Need a Hug' (one of a half-dozen numbers salvaged from Loveland, the bootlegged first crack at this album)."[21] On Kelly's performance, Leroy concluded by writing:

In the end, though, it’s R’s musical genius that pulls his bare butt out of this fire. Channeling greats from Gaye to Wonder, his stripped-down bangers bang harder, his ballads have more gospel bluster, and he sings with the desperation of a loveman who knows the cops are waiting at his bedroom door.[21]

— Dan Leroy

The album was included in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2003.[22] Chocolate Factory was ranked in several "End of Year" lists, including Blender magazine's 2003 Albums of the Year List at number 12 and The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll at number 44.[22][23] Three New York Times staff writers included it on their top ten lists for 2003.[24][25][26]

Track listing

All songs were written, produced, and arranged by R. Kelly, except track 17, which was written by R. Kelly and Fat Joe.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Chocolate Factory"R.Kelly3:50
2."Step in the Name of Love"R.Kelly5:42
3."Heart Of A Woman"R.Kelly4:31
4."I'll Never Leave"R.Kelly3:45
5."Been Around The World" (Feat Ja Rule)R.Kelly4:05
6."You Made Me Love You"R.Kelly4:34
7."Forever"R.Kelly4:06
8."Dream Girl"R.Kelly3:57
9."Ignition"R.Kelly3:16
10."Ignition (Remix)"R.Kelly3:06
11."Forever More"R.Kelly3:33
12."You Knock Me Out"R.Kelly4:10
13."Step in The Name of Love (Remix)"R.Kelly7:12
14."Imagine That"R.Kelly4:38
15."Showdown" (Feat Ronald Isley)R.Kelly7:54
16."Havin' a Baby" (Feat Big Tigger)R.Kelly4:51
17."Who's That" (Feat Fat Joe)R.Kelly, Fat Joe3:33

Note: "Apologies Of A Thug" - 4:26 *Is Track 17 On The LIMITED EDITION

Loveland

In special edition U.S. copies of Chocolate Factory, a bonus disc, the 6 track EP Loveland, is included.

  1. "Loveland" - 4:27
  2. "What Do I Do" - 3:35
  3. "Heaven I Need a Hug" - 5:12
  4. "The World's Greatest" - 4:37
  5. "Far More" - 3:26
  6. "Raindrops" - 3:55

Letter to the fans

Included in the album's packaging was a note, in which R. Kelly addresses the charges against him and his appreciation for his fans[27]:

Dear Fans of Mine

Thank you for all the love and support
that you have shown me not only
during these trying times, but also throughout
my career. I want you to know that
I am forever grateful for you all.

You guys are the reason I am who I am today and
the reason why I will continue to write songs into tomorrow.
God Bless you all for inspiring me the
way that you have done.

Lately it has been hard for me to find someone I trust,
someone to talk to, someone who is loyal,
understanding, and most of all, a true friend. But,
during the course of my success, God has led me to see that
you guys have been all of those things and more.
And that’s love!

I hope you guys enjoy this album because I truly
made it for you.

Love,

R. Kelly

PS: When you see me, hug a thug!

Chart history

Chart procession and succession
Preceded by Billboard 200 number-one album
March 2, 2003 - March 8, 2003 		Succeeded by

Personnel

Notes

  1. ^ a b Henderson, Alex. Review: Chocolate Factory. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  2. ^ Rabin, Nathan. Review: Chocolate Factory. The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  3. ^ Sinclair, Tom. Review: Chocolate Factory. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  4. ^ Nichols, Natalie. Review: Chocolate Factory. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  5. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa. Review: Chocolate Factory. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  6. ^ a b DeCurtis, Anthony. Review: Chocolate Factory. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  7. ^ Hoard, Christian. "Review: Chocolate Factory". Rolling Stone: 448. November 2, 2004.
  8. ^ Jones, Steve. Review: Chocolate Factory. USA Today. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  9. ^ Murphy, Keith. "Review: Chocolate Factory". Vibe: 173–174. April 2003.
  10. ^ Clover, Sterling. Review: Chocolate Factory. The Village Voice. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  11. ^ Discogs.com - Chocolate Factory
  12. ^ Album & Singles chart history at Allmusic.com
  13. ^ a b Chocolate Factory (2003): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  14. ^ a b RIAA searchable database. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  15. ^ R Kelly timeline. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  16. ^ R Kelly profile at SuperiorPics.com
  17. ^ Columnist. "Chocolate Factory # 1". Business Wire: February 26, 2003.
  18. ^ Tower.com: Chocolate Factory - Reviews
  19. ^ BBC - Urban Review: R Kelly, Chocolate Factory - Tracklists on BBC Music reviews are supplied by MusicBrainz.
  20. ^ Cinquemani, Sal. Review: Chocolate Factory. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  21. ^ a b Leroy, Dan. Review: Chocolate Factory. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  22. ^ a b Acclaimed music: Chocolate Factory rankings
  23. ^ Rocklist.net: Village Voice 2003
  24. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa. The Albums and Songs of the Year. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  25. ^ Strauss, Neil. The Albums and Songs of the Year. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  26. ^ Ratliff, Ben. The Albums and Songs of the Year. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-08-05.
  27. ^ A Bitter Taste - CHOCOLATE FACTORY REVIEW BY JIM DeROGATIS POP MUSIC CRITIC

References

  • Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-74320-169-8.
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