- 17
- Tracks
- 78 min
- Runtime
Not yet rated.
Be the first to rate it.
Not yet rated.
Be the first to rate it.
17 tracks · 78 min
Chocolate Factory is the fifth studio album by the American R&B recording artist R. Kelly, released on February 18, 2003 by Jive Records. Recording sessions for the album took place mainly at Rockland Studios and Chicago Recording Company in Chicago. It was primarily written, arranged, and produced by R. Kelly. Chocolate Factory was conceived by Kelly amid controversy over his sex scandal at the time. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling over 532,000 copies in its first week. It achieved success in international markets and produced three singles that attained chart success, including US and UK hits "Snake" and "Step in the Name of Love", and international hit "Ignition (Remix)". Chocolate Factory was well received by most music critics, receiving rave reviews from publications such as The New York Times and USA Today. The album has sold over three million copies worldwide and received sales certifications in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Recording sessions for the album took place primarily at Rockland Studios and Chicago Recording Company in Chicago. Other recording locations included the Record Plant, in Los Angeles, California, Soup Can Music in Harper Woods, Michigan, and Vanguard Studios in Oak Park, Michigan. Chocolate Factory was written, arranged, and produced entirely by R. Kelly, with the exception of "Who's That", co-written by rapper Fat Joe. It was released February 18, 2003 on Jive Records, following a year of controversy for a now-infamous videotape alleged to show Kelly and an underage girl having sex. Chocolate Factory comprises slow jams and upbeat club tracks, and many of its songs draw on classic soul music with call-and-response choruses and harmonies inspired by the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. Kelly's vocals veer between singing and rapping. Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times writes that he "pack his verses full of words, then improvise a tricky vocal line around a simple tune." Most of the album's lyrics focuses on romance. On "Forever", Kelly croons about an exaggerated fantasy of the married life, with "a picket fence, dog and a house / About 12 kids, you're cooking me breakfast in the morning, I'm taking the garbage out." The lively "Ignition (Remix)" is a lustful song built on automotive double-entendres.
