Double Up
by R. Kelly
  • Record Label: Jive
  • Release Date: May 29, 2007
Metascore
63

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 15
  3. Negative: 1 out of 15
  1. Billboard
    60
    It's a very sexually explicit R. Kelly who greets fans on this outing. [2 Jun 2007]
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  2. Blender
    70
    Kelly's true genius is the metaphor-laden sex jam, and Double Up has some great ones. [Jul 2007, p.115]
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  3. Dot Music
    40
    His tenuous grasp on reality and good taste slips and he plummets into a tawdry, gratuitous and self-congratulatory flurry of misogyny, expletives and reggae.
  5. Entertainment Weekly
    50
    Just as surely as Justin brought sexy back, Kelly is bringing slightly creepy back.
  6. Hot Press
    60
    This is a maddeningly inconsistent collection, with more misses than hits – though Kelly’s best moments do go some way towards atoning for his flaws.
  7. NOW Magazine
    80
    Those lyrics may seem slightly ridiculous, but between them and his thinly veiled metaphors for his need to perform cunnilingus (Sweet Tooth), Kelly's originality and talent for making instant club hits is un-fucking-deniable.
  8. Pitchfork
    67
    In a sense, it seems more apropos to judge Double Up as a comedy record than as a pop record.
  9. PopMatters
    70
    One of Kelly’s funniest and funnest records to date.
  10. Rolling Stone
    60
    This album piles on the bump 'n' grind.
  11. Slant Magazine
    20
    Unsaved by anything resembling an acceptable musical hook, Kelly's lyrics are uniformly dumb.
  12. Stylus Magazine
    83
    It’s the most consistently entertaining and lasting of R. Kelly’s albums yet.
  13. The A.V. Club
    75
    Kelly routinely cooks up killer grooves that make his exuberantly stupid lyrics and hackneyed song concepts seem strangely charming.
  14. The Guardian
    40
    The reaction Double Up provokes makes you think of the scene from The Producers when the opening night performance of Springtime For Hitler ends and the camera pans on to the audience: open-mouthed, frozen, aghast.
  15. The New York Times
    70
    This is a nutty album, but a pretty single-minded one.
  16. Tiny Mix Tapes
    40
    A real slog to get through.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 27 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 27
  3. Negative: 7 out of 27
  1. BustaDimes
    Mar 16, 2022
    7
    He is not supposed to babysit your children. He's (uhmm.... was) supposed to be a great artist. And he was so. So I will forever simpy judgeHe is not supposed to babysit your children. He's (uhmm.... was) supposed to be a great artist. And he was so. So I will forever simpy judge him as an artist. The court judge did his job when he needed to, that's it. Let's talk about the legacy of his musical genius.

    This record is an enjoyable mix of well-perfromed R&B and hip hop. I guess "Same Girl" might look bad for Usher nowadays (all jokes aside, great creative R&B jam). Title track and "I'm a Flirt" stand out too. Great record. Not as good as his early classic projects / late-career standouts, but it's still undeniably well done and ear-pleasing. Maybe his best record of the 2000's decade. But it's too damn long    … Full Review »
  2. ToddW.
    Aug 1, 2007
    0
    Anyone who listens to and admires this criminal should double up in the same jail cell in which this guy belongs, if not for his money and Anyone who listens to and admires this criminal should double up in the same jail cell in which this guy belongs, if not for his money and station in life. A true example of the idiom, "Life just isn't fair," this guy should make fans with female children truly lock up their daughters.… Full Review »
  3. [Anonymous]
    Jul 15, 2007
    0
    This is plain horrible. who wants to know if he's a flirt? who cares that he's looking for good sex? could someone please chop him This is plain horrible. who wants to know if he's a flirt? who cares that he's looking for good sex? could someone please chop him from their recording label, so that it would be one less untalented artist for radio stations and music channels to play.… Full Review »
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