One Ooh, One Ahh

R. Kelly “Just Like That”

Over the past decade, it’s been easy to focus on R. Kelly’s most absurd pop songs. It’s understandable; a lot of his best songs have moments of distinct, inspired, hilarious weirdness. It’s something that makes him a singular, fascinating artist. However, it’s easy to overlook or underrate him when he’s playing it totally straight. “Just Like That,” one of the best tracks from Love Letter, has no interesting lyrical hook. It’s a sweet, smooth R&B love song, as sentimental and straightforward as it gets. This is R. Kelly’s specialty, and even though it’s the kind of song he can no doubt write and produce without much effort, it’s an extremely effective piece of music. It aims for pure pleasure, and hits that mark with startling accuracy. Well-made genre exercises may not be extremely exciting on an intellectual level, but sometimes you just have to marvel at the work of a master craftsman.

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