THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

993-R. Kelly-Ignition (Remix.)

2003-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 2.37. Lock up your daughters!….No seriously, lock them up.

R. Kelly (see also best songs 800) was born Robert Sylvester Kelly on January 8th, 1967, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Controversy and rumours of sexual misdemeanours have courted R. Kelly for many years. In 2021 Kelly was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on charges including child pornography, kidnapping, and forced labour. At the time of writing Kelly is an inmate of the ‘Metropolitan Correctional Centre, Chicago, and is challenging his convictions.

Prior to his music career taking off in his teenage years, R. Kelly had had a very troubled adolescence. In his autobiography Kelly describes having a girlfriend called Lulu at the age of eight. He stated that one day while out playing with her things turned tragic when, after fighting with older children over a play area by a creek, she was pushed into the water, swept downstream by a fast moving current, and drowned. Kelly called Lulu his first musical inspiration. R. Kelly who never knew his father, had according to his brother Carey, suffered from years of sexual abuse at the hands of his older sister, Theresa, who was entrusted with babysitting her siblings.Carey stated that although their older brother, Bruce, was spared and allowed to play outside, both he and Kelly were punished at separate times indoors by Theresa, who refused to acknowledge the abuse when confronted years later. It is also said that around the age of 10, Kelly was also sexually abused by an older male who was a friend of the family. Another family friend has said that at the age of 11, R. Kelly attempted suicide by shooting himself.

R. Kelly has sold in excess of 75 million records worldwide, and has released 18 studio Albums between 1992-2016, he has also issued 119 singles between 1990-2018. His discography also includes producing four Studio Albums, and 68 singles for other artists, as well as three soundtrack Albums. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, two of his singles have made Number 1, while in the UK, he has appeared on three Number 1 singles. On Billboard he has also written and produced a further two chart toppers,’You Are Not Alone,’ for Michael Jackson, (1995) and ‘Bump, Bump, Bump,’ for the American boy band ‘B2K’ (2002.) In the UK,’You Are Not Alone’ also made Number 1 for Michael Jackson, and then in 2009 the song again topped the chart, when issued as a charity single by that years ‘X Factor Finalists.’

‘Ignition (Remix’) was written and produced by R. Kelly, and was the first of three singles released from his fifth studio Album ‘Chocolate Factory,’ from February 2003. The song spent four weeks at Number 1 in the UK, and peaked at Number 2 on Billboard in America for five consecutive weeks behind ‘In Da Club,’ by 50 Cent, (see also best songs 189) ‘Ignition (Remix’) also ended as the second best selling single of 2003 in America, again behind ‘In Da Club.’ On ‘Chocolate Factory’ the track ‘Ignition’ appears as track 9, and is followed by ‘Ignition (Remix’) which is track 10. Although it says ‘remix’ the truth is it isn’t really a remix, as there are just a couple of similarities between both songs, it is probably best described as an ‘inspiration.’ In fact R. Kelly has said,’First of all it was an old, old track that I had in my computer for a long time. When I pulled it up, for some reason I just heard ‘ignition’ on it, so I start really just messing with the words, and a lot of metaphors start coming to me. You know ‘trying to get you to my hotel/ you must be a football coach/ the way you got me playing the field/ So baby give me that ‘toot toot, that beep beep.’ You know what I mean? Just basically having fun with the song from there, once I tapped into the metaphor of it.’ R.Kelly has also stated that he had written the basis of ‘Ignition (Remix’) approximately five years before he wrote the song called ‘Ignition.’

‘It’s the remix to Ignition, hot and fresh out the kitchen. Mama rollin’ that body got every man in here wishin.’ Sippin’ on Coke and rum, I’m like so what I’m drunk. It’s the freakin’ weekend, baby, I’m about to have me some fun.’