R. Kelly's Artistic Process

By now, you most likely have fully absorbed Double Up, the latest chart-topping treatise from crazed/brilliant R&B lothario R. Kelly. Which means that, despite the current attention lavished on lead single "I'm a Flirt," you have discovered the record's true emotional core: the slo-jam ballad "Sex Planet."

"Sex Planet" is not a metaphor. It describes, in some detail, the act of coitus. In space. With R. Kelly. Some have grumbled that the images, references and rhymes that make up "Sex Planet" (most notably, the pairing of "painless" and "Uranus") are a bit childish and obvious. To them we say this: To be so base and silly requires dedication and real skill.

To help shed light on R. Kelly's misunderstood creative process, we offer a page literally ripped from his sketchbook, in which he muses, doodles and gradually forms the central artistic tenets of "Sex Planet." If this also involves drawing pictures of Chewbacca in a compromising position, so be it. Kelly is an artist, and artists do what they must.