I was listening to this song on the way home and there were several problems that I want to talk about:
Problem One:
The song opens with a faux conversation between R. Kelly and another man. The conversation begins as follows:
‘Ey, yo, R. Kelly you been spendin’ a lotta time with this girl, man,’ observes the first man, to which R. Kelly responds,
‘I dunno man, she jus’ got that vibe, you know what I’m sayin?’
You’d be forgiven for thinking that this signals the end of the discourse – a question has been asked and R. Kelly has answered, albeit in an abstract fashion. That is to say, if R. Kelly had the means to describe in more concrete terms why he has been spending so much time with this girl, he would have used said means, and answering the question as he did implies that he is either unwilling or unable explain his behaviour in greater detail.
In either case, what happens next is baffling.
R. Kelly’s companion says ‘A’iight tell me the scrip’,’ in a clear request for a more detailed explanation.
R. Kelly responds with ‘A’iight bet,’ and bursts into song for approximately 6 minutes, during which time the following details regarding the nature of that vibe are related:
1) R. Kelly looks at this girl a lot, as she wears tight-fitting garments and in general terms has an appealing and sexually arousing physical appearance.
2) R. Kelly is sexually aroused by this girl due to her properties as stated in point 1.
3) R. Kelly wants to take this girl home. The root intention in unlikely to be non-sexual, however this not absolutely clear as R. Kelly never explicitly states his sexual intentions (if any) towards this girl.
This information is all provided within the first verse. The rest of the song deals with themes other than the ‘Vibe’ of this girl. Given that all pertinent information is related within 3 minutes of the song starting, why is the song twice this length?
Problem Two:
As stated in the previous problem, the song is the result of a direct request for information from the companion of R. Kelly. This being the case, why is the song directed at the girl who has that Vibe and not the companion? Moreover, why does R. Kelly address his lyrics directly to this girl in the verses, and not in the chorus?
Problem Three:
Having that vibe is a property that this girl shares with Joanne, Leonice, Theresa, Tania, Cheryl, Betty, Chip, Anne, Gail, Stephanie, Sabrina, Rochelle, Gladys, Montina, Aaliyah, Stacey, Tita, Rita, Laura and Kim. Given the number of girls who also have that vibe, having that vibe does not appear to a valid reason to spend an extended period of time with this girl. This being the case, what is the point of the song?
Problem Four:
Given that R. Kelly is sexually aroused by this girl, why does he end the song by saying ‘You can’t touch this, just like MC Hammer said. You can’t touch this,’?
NOTE: The version that I was listening to is the Up All Night, No Sleep Till Bed Time mix, 6:13 in length.
No comments:
Post a Comment