In general, I'm not one for in-da-club dance hits or their skin-and-booze videos. However, there are exceptions to every genre, and one 2003 jam rises above: R. Kelly's "Ignition." Pretty much irresistable. And I can't quite place why.
After all, it sticks to the typical formula: underdressed ladies, baggily dressed guys, copious flashing of booze and that stark, tempered lighting. The lyrics aren't exactly poetry, either:
no im not tryin to be rude,
but hey pretty girl im feelin you
the way you do the things you do
remind me of my Lexus coup
thats why im all up in yo grill
tryina get you to a hotel
you must be a foot ball coach
the way you got me playin the field
so baby gimme that toot toot
and lemme give you that beep beep
runnin her hands through my 'fro
bouncin on 24's
while they say on the radio...
[chorus]
this is the remix to ignition
hot and fresh out the kitchen
mama rollin that body
got evey man in her wishin
sippin on coke and rum
im like so what im drunk
its the freakin weekend baby
im about to have me some fun
And yet…the song is perfect hilarity anyway. Is it R. Kelly’s light, almost effeminately high voice? So laid-back, so non-threatening. Is it the blatant woman-as-car metaphor (man as key, woman as ignition)? Or is it the elementary nature of his rhymes? (ignition, kitchen; rum, drunk). I don't know if I'll ever put my finger on it. But the best of R. Kelly to me always shines as the absolute most Textbook version of the morass that is contemporary R&B, and there's something about his unassuming earnestness that is winningly goofy.
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