The Buffet

The Buffet is the thirteenth studio album by American R&B singer-songwriter R. Kelly. It was released on December 11, 2015, by RCA Records. The album features guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Jhene Aiko, Ty Dolla Sign, Jeremih, Juicy J, Wizkid and Tinashe.[1][2] The album also marks the debut of Kelly's own daughter, Joann Kelly going by the stage name Ariirayé.[3]

This article is about the R. Kelly album. For other uses, see Buffet (disambiguation).

The Buffet
Studio album by
R. Kelly
ReleasedDecember 11, 2015 (2015-12-11)
Recorded2014–15
Genre
Length48:18
LabelRCA
Producer
R. Kelly chronology
Black Panties
(2013)		 The Buffet
(2015)		 12 Nights of Christmas
(2016)
Deluxe version cover
Singles from The Buffet
  1. "Backyard Party"
    Released: August 21, 2015
  2. "Switch Up"
    Released: November 6, 2015

Background

The album serves as a follow-up to its predecessor Black Panties (2013). In May 2015, he announced that he decided to change the title from White Panties to The Buffet, because "it's just a variety of things" and would contain a mix of different genres of music.[4] Kelly reportedly had written over 462 songs during the development of the album, from which he made his final album selection.[5]

Singles

"Backyard Party" was released as the albums's first official single on August 21, 2015. The written credits and the serving of its Record production that was handled and provided by R. Kelly. The song peaking at number 6 on the US Adult R&B Airplay.[6]

"Switch Up" was released as the album's second official single on November 6, 2015. The song features guest appearances from an American rapper Lil Wayne and a fellow R&B recording artist Jeremih, with the writing and the production that was handled and provided by R. Kelly himself, along with J-Holt and Cem T.

Promotional singles

"Marching Band" featuring Juicy J, and "Wake Up Everybody" were released as promotional singles along with the album's pre-order on iTunes.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic60/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
The Independent[9]
NME3/5[10]
The New York Times(mixed)[11]
Rolling Stone[12]
Spin7/10[13]
USA Today[14]

Upon its release, The Buffet received mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60, based on nine reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7]

Andy Kellman of AllMusic awarded the album three stars out of five, stating that the album "does have more dimensions than Black Panties" while also pointing out the fact he "remains driven to as ever to take a metaphorical theme to a comedic extreme and then deviate from it in direct and explicit fashion."[8]

Andy Gill of The Independent gave the album three stars out of five, saying that the album by all accounts is "far from Kelly's best work" while also stating that it's "an OK effort overall."[15]

Dan Weiss of Spin awarded the album with a seven out of ten, saying that the record is "like the 12 that came before it: hard to enjoy objectively." He also adds that its "better than just another R. Kelly album, but not enough to be worth saying so outside of a review, much less on a year-end list; call it a good one-night stand."[13]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 16 on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 39,000 equivalent copies (36,000 in pure album sales).[16] It was the eleventh best-selling album of the week.[17] The Buffet was the thirteenth solo album by Kelly to debut at number one on the Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[18] In the second week, the album sold 26,000 equivalent copies (25,000 in pure album sales).[19]

HuffPost Live Interview

Acknowledging the album's lack of record sales, Kelly reached out to his Facebook fans asking for support. In an interview on HuffPost Live, interviewer Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani suggested to Kelly that the lack of sales could be due to listeners feeling conflicted by Kelly's multiple allegations of sexual assault with minors. Kelly refused to answer and walked out of the interview.[20]

Track listing
Standard version
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."The Poem"Robert KellyR. Kelly1:19
2."Poetic Sex"
  • Kelly
  • Samuel Hindes
  • Mikano Fayette
  • Firman Guion
  • Kelly
  • Hindes
4:21
3."Anything Goes" (featuring Ty Dolla Sign)
4:35
4."Let's Make Some Noise" (featuring Jhené Aiko)
  • Kelly
  • Walker
4:14
5."Marching Band" (featuring Juicy J)
3:56
6."Switch Up" (featuring Lil Wayne and Jeremih)
  • Kelly
  • J-Holt
  • Cem T.
3:24
7."Wanna Be There" (featuring Ariirayé)
  • Kelly
  • S1
  • Epikh Pro
4:15
8."All My Fault"KellyKelly3:25
9."Wake Up Everybody"KellyKelly3:41
10."Get Out of Here With Me"
  • Kelly
  • Donnie Lyle
  • Kelly
  • Lyle
4:17
11."Backyard Party"KellyKelly3:32
12."Sextime"
  • Kelly
  • Dorrell "Bigg Makk" Mays
  • Andre Manuel
  • Kelly
  • Bigg Makk
  • Manuel
4:14
13."Let's Be Real Now" (featuring Tinashe)
3:05
Total length:48:18
Deluxe version (bonus tracks)
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
14."I Just Want to Thank You" (featuring Wizkid)
3:23
15."Keep Searchin'"KellyKelly4:31
16."Sufferin'"KellyKelly4:00
17."I Tried"
  • Kelly
  • Mays
  • Kelly
  • Bigg Makk
4:09
18."Barely Breathin'"KellyKelly4:45
Total length:69:06
Japan bonus track
No.TitleLength
19."Damn Right"3:13
Total length:72:19

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.[21]

Charts

Release history
Country Date Format(s) Version(s) Label
United States December 11, 2015[25]
  • CD
  • digital download
  • Standard
  • deluxe
 RCA

See also

References
  1. "R.Kelly – The Buffet (Cover & Tracklist)". xclusiveszone.net. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  2. "R. Kelly sets pre-order of 'The Buffet'; official release date is Dec. 11". www.cleveland.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  3. "Inside R. Kelly's Most Adventurous Album Ever". rollingstone.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  4. "R. Kelly Announces New Album "Buffet"". hotnewhiphop.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  5. "R. Kelly says he wrote 462 songs for The Buffet, and they're all hits". ew.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  6. "R. Kelly – Chart history – Billboard". www.billboard.com.
  7. "The Buffet Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  8. Andy Kellman. "The Buffet – R. Kelly | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  9. Andy Gill (December 11, 2015). "R Kelly, The Buffet: Album review – Reviews – Music". The Independent. London. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  10. Cottingham, Chris (December 11, 2015). "R. Kelly – 'The Buffet'". NME. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  11. "New CDs". The New York Times. June 1, 2008.
  12. Sheffield, Rob (December 23, 2015). "R. Kelly 'The Buffet' Album Review". Rolling Stone.
  13. Weiss, Dan. "R. Kelly, 'The Buffet' Review". Spin.com. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  14. Gardner, Elysa (December 1, 2015). "Album of the week: R. Kelly's 'The Buffet'". Usatoday.com. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  15. Gill, Andy (December 11, 2015). "The Buffet review". The Independent. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  16. "Hip Hop Album Sales: August Alsina, R. Kelly & Rick Ross". hiphopdx.com. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  17. "R. Kelly Album & Song Chart History". Billboard. Top Album Sales for R. Kelly. January 2, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  18. "R. Kelly's 'Buffet' Debuts at No. 1 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart". Billboard. December 23, 2015. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
  19. Smith, Trevor (December 30, 2015). "Charts Don't Lie: December 30th". hotnewhiphop. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  20. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "R Kelly Huff Post Live Interview". YouTube.
  21. "The Buffet – R. Kelly – Credits – AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  22. "R. Kelly Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  23. "R. Kelly Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  24. "Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-end Chart 2016". Billboard. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  25. "The Buffet (Deluxe Version) by R. Kelly". iTunes Store. Apple Inc. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
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