Friday, February 3, 2012

Share My Love: What the Critics Are Saying


Despite his penchant for timeless love making anthem – and there are plenty of them – Robert Kelly’s propensity to craft a damn good dance record shouldn’t be ignored. Where “Step In The Name Of Love” is a wedding mainstay and overall classic feel good number, “Share My Love” should have people two stepping nights away with not a care in the world in no time.


Its sound is reminiscent of 1960's/70's soul, funk, and disco from the likes of Barry White and Marvin Gaye, still maintaining Kelly's unmistakably smooth style.

- Billboard 

R. Kelly is back for 2012 with a brand new track called ‘Share my Love’, which is an epic song that shares the lovely romantic vibes we expect from the amazing R&B singer and performer.  After a few years of laying low, it seems as if the sensation is back with a new energy, charisma and talent!  He wants to continue bringing us amazing music and ‘sharing his love’ with [us].  It is so nice to hear his voice echoing through the speakers, so be sure to download this one for the iPhone, MP3 player and jam on out! 


After today's sad announcement on the passing of Don Cornelius, it's hard not to hear any other news without that shading on it. But this is a celebratory piece. Because R. Kelly's back, and he's disco, and it's a very specific nod to an era during which Cornelius reigned. Applause all around. Kells' newest offering is "Share My Love," a track sent to radio today, steeped in 1970s soul and the R&B crooner's plan to help "populate" this big blue earth. It's a lot of familiar instrumentation from his last album, 2010's "Love Letter," with its groovy bassline and warm, flirty guitar, laced with twinkling keys and a humming, sensual orchestra.


"Share My Love" sounds like it's beamed in straight from the speakers of Studio 54, sometime around 1977. Crooning over shiny disco strings and a sweetly mellowed-out beat, the King of R&B keeps it smooth as silk -- or at least polyester, preferably in electric purple.
Romantic as ever, Kels slips more than a few priceless come-ons into the lyrics for "Share My Love" (the first single from his forthcoming album, Write Me Back). Of course, when he announces he's about to "tell you all of the things I wanna do to you" in the first verse, your instinct is probably to cover your ears and start shouting "LA LA LA!" to drown him out. But that's nothing compared to the real prize-taker at the bridge: "Now that we're in this room/Let’s do what we’re born to do/POPULATE! POPULATE!" It's classic Kels -- fantastic and terrifying at the very same time. BTW, I just pictured R. Kelly in a butterfly-collared button-down and suede bell-bottoms, and it was kind of amazing. Let's all break out our halter-neck catsuits and do The Hustle.



Oh babe, R. Kelly just wants to share his love with you! Luckily his love in this case is a soulful, upbeat new single, "Share My Love," off the threateningly-named upcoming album, Write Me Back. Prefix calls this a companion to R.'s 2010 album Love Letter (she hasn't written back for 2 years), and wonders if that means we've got more such Marvin Gaye-ish tunes in store. A nation can only dream! But seriously, there's some magic going on down there and you should accept when R. offers to share. Write drops in March.


On R. Kelly's last album, Love Letter, the King of R&B sang homages to the soul ballads that filled up '60s radios. For his next one, he might leap a decade ahead to the decadent '70s. His new single, "Share Your Love," off the upcoming Write Me Back, is a glittering disco production that's typical Kells: that balletic croon backed by lyrics like "Let's get together / POPULATE! / Make the world better / POPULATE!" But it's awesome, yes, and should have you ready for the floor whenever it makes its way to your favorite dive clubs.


Unlike his previous 60s-inspired set “Love Letters,” this tune, titled “Share My Love,” has an unmistakable 70s groove, complete with Philly-soul flavored string arrangements.


Maybe we’ve been watching too many Soul Train performances today, but when did disco make a definitive comeback? R. Kelly hops into his soula coasta and heads back to the 70’s for his glittering, surprisingly non-rambling new musical offering “Share My Love”, the lead single his forthcoming album Write Me Back.

- Idolator 

R. does it for the steppers one mo' time with this sweeping groove that sounds like it would have fit right into radio playlists from 1979 alongside Barry White and his Love Unlimited Orchestra, Donna Summer, and Thelma Houston. [...] Kells has found gold in this old school lane -- and he's one of the few who do it well -- so he might just want to stay in it and continue to "populate" our iPods with hits.


C'mon everybody and get on the 'Love Boat' and start swinging to the new single 'Share My Love' by R.Kelly. It will take you back to the 80s with its piano-driven beat making you feel like you are on a holiday and having a blast of an evening. It is the first single from his forthcoming twelfth album 'Write Me Back' which is expected this May. This song was released in February, 2012. This song is fresh off the streets and getting some positive feedback on the web. I am adding it to my iTunes list and hopefully it will become a favorite. I am curious however to see how long it will take before it be removed by many. Ohh man, this underground joint is still an exclusive. Put on that headphone and start noddin'. Click on the 'play'-button and enjoy!  I give it of 5 stars.

- Music Remedy

R. Kelly’s last record, Love Letter, was a good, old-fashioned take on soul jams and smooth declarations of love. But—with news of a whole bunch of new chapters of Trapped In The Closet coming, and with Black Panties as the leaked, relatively randy title for the new recordKell-votees might have been expecting the R in R&B to turn his soulacoaster around and get back to getting freaky in the club. Well, it turns out that this is not the case. Black Panties has been renamed Write Me Back, and Kelly’s latest single, “Share My Love,” hit the Internet today. While the track is about getting busy in the bedroom, it’s decidedly not down and dirty. Instead, it’s more like late-’60s/early-’70s funk and soul, à la Marvin Gaye and Barry White. That’s not to say “Share My Love” is a bad song—but it’s for aunts and uncles at backyard barbecues, not us sensual young people looking to release our inner beasts. Either way, it’s still worth a listen ... or 10.

- A.V. Club

 R. Kelly returns from his musical hiatus with the new track "Share My Love." Imbued with old school flavor and plenty of emotion, "Share My Love" is in the same sonic vein as his last album Love Letter. Dipped in creamy soul, the uptempo number just begs to be stepped to. The ditty is high on romance and low on Kells' signature bumping and grinding, but the singer's tongue-and-cheek foreplay skills are well intact. "Populate/Let's get together/Populate," he croons. What woman could resist?

- MTV RapFix

“Share My Love” sounds like a logical extension of 2010′s Sam Cooke-inspired Love Letter. With its disco strings and easy-breezy beat, “Share My Love” has more of a mid-period Marvin Gaye vibe to it, which hopefully means that Kels is working his way through R&B history and will eventually end up back at his own career in a few albums or so. The best thing about these R. Kelly throwbacks is that they always sound like classic jams until lyrics like “Now that we’re in this room /  Let’s do what we were born to do /  Populate!” That’s good stuff.

- Entertainment Weekly 

R. Kelly has been relatively quiet since he announced in December that he needs financing to shoot 32 new chapters of "Trapped in the Closet." But here he is, emerging out of nowhere to share a brand-new track from his upcoming album, Write Me Back. The project is set to mirror the approach of his previous release, 2010's Love Letter, so does that mean more Marvin Gaye/Barry White-ish tunes like "Share My Love"? If that's the case, then we're definitely that much more interested. I mean, just hearing lines like "Let's do what we were born to do/Populate!" is reason enough to get up in the morning.


​R. Kelly's 2010 throwback album Love Letter was one of my favorite records of that year, full of romance and and aesthetics that grabbed from Sam Cooke, late-night smooth-jazz playlists. ("Taxi Cab," in particular, is a corker.) His follow-up to Love Letter is reportedly going to be called Write Me Back; today the first single, the string-drenched "Share My Love," hit the Internet, and if it's any indication, the two albums are going to be of a sort of epistolary piece. "Share" does seem a bit tossed-off—Kells can seemingly make joyous, uptempo love songs as easily as I can toast my morning English muffin. But that is not a bad thing, because what the world needs now, etc., etc.


R. Kelly delights his fans when he releases a fresh material titled "Share My Love". The R&B singer seduces music lovers through its soulful disco production and its cheeky lyrics, which include such lines as "Let's do what we were born to do/ Populate!/ Let's get together/ Populate!" "Share My Love" is a first taste from Kelly's new album, which is expected to come out later this year. He hinted about doing a reminiscent to the 1960/70's disco as saying in an interview last year, "I'm thinking of going back to the Shaft [1971] days next year and just see what it's like to bring that back to R&B." 


R. Kelly went full crooner on last year’s not-praised-enough Love Letter, so it’s probably no surprise that R&B’s most famous oddball returns with the disco-tinged “Share Your Love,” the first single from his new one, Write Me Back. The lyrics? Classic Kels. “Now that we’re in this room / Let’s do what we’re born to do / POPULATE! / POPULATE!”


Good news: R. Kelly can still sing. Great news, if you like Barry White: The song sounds a lot like Barry White. Kellz's new album details are still hazy (it looks like the original title, Black Panties, has been traded for Write Me Back), but if "Share My Love" is any indication, Kellz will still be working the Love Letter retro vibe, just skipping forward a couple of decades. At any rate, "Share My Love" is perfectly pleasing as a sunny ode to R. Kelly's most beloved pastime: babymaking populating. That's what we're calling it now! Populating.


Remember when R. Kelly was making that feel-good music? "Step In the Name Of Love" should ring a bell. For his newest single "Share My Love" from the upcoming album Write Me Back, Robert takes it to that grown folks vibe to declare his feelings to a significant other. With a deeper voice, this would have that Barry White vibe to it.

- Complex 

Notorious for his timeless lovemaking material, R&B icon R. Kelly has released a self-produced new single, entitled Share My Love.  The record, which is richly embedded in the Chicago Steppin Music sound, takes listeners on a musical journey from the “Do the Hustle”-era all the way to 2012. Kells keeps his lyrics of love remotely familiar and anecdotally amusing (oh, hello “Populate” ad lib) on Share, gearing the subject material towards his older and more mature audience. Though Generation Y is obsessed with bass-heavy booty music and hyper-emphasized images of sex, the multiple Grammy Award winner appears beyond having to resort to cheap “industry” tactics for airplay and spins.  So, will Share My Love help the Chicago native get the buzz up for his forthcoming new studio album?  Find out if and when Write Me Back lands in digital and physical store fronts this spring. 


‘Share My Love’ is a healthy combination of Disco, R&B and classic arrangements of Barry White. With record and the promised raunchy content of ‘Black Panties’, R. Kelly is truly returning to his roots by providing a balanced range of material that will cater to his Adult Contemporary R&B fans as well as those persons who want to “bump ‘n’ grind.” Let’s see if his formula will be profitable in the current music market.

- The Lava Lizard

As the action commences in the video for "Share My Love", we catch R. Kelly and two of his female associates-- he's sharing his love, see-- basking in the afterglow, preparing to make an entrance. There's a party going on outside, and much, much more love to share, with several dozen of Kelly's closest friends and associates. This is the image we're given, but the track alone suggests alternate interpretations: an imagined night at Larry Levan's Paradise Garage, perhaps, or for those outside the know, the vicinity of an urban radio station in the mid-to late 1970s.

Kelly outfits "Share," a single off his forthcoming LP Write Me Back, firmly in the proto-disco firmament of Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra and the best of the Thom Bell-produced Spinners. It's a lush, string-laden 4/4 rhythm, with suggestions like "take that off, girl, and let the fun begin." Since this is Kelly, you know you're going to get at least one purely original moment, which arrives in the song's middle eight when he merges his virtuosic flair for intimacy-- "Now that we're in this room, let's do what we were born to do"-- with a shout-along slogan of vast proportions. All together now, as the beat drops out: "Populate!"

- Pitchfork 

*Keep checking back for updates

1 comment:

  1. That's talent everyone! Who can do whatever they want at anytime? Nobody except Kells. He was born for it, a true legend. KING!

    ReplyDelete