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]
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]
Composition
According to Rolling Stone, The Buffet's first half leans more towards hip-hop influenced R&B, while on the second half of the record the singer "stretches out stylistically", with episodes of Memphis soul, quiet storm, and country music.[6]
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.[7]
"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.
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".[8]
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."[9]
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."[16]
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."[14]
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).[17] It was the eleventh best-selling album of the week.[18]The Buffet was the thirteenth solo album by Kelly to debut at number one on the Billboard'sTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[19] In the second week, the album sold 26,000 equivalent copies (25,000 in pure album sales).[20]
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.[21]
