TP.3 Reloaded is the seventhstudio album by AmericanR&B singerR. Kelly. It was released byJive Records on July 5, 2005, in the United States. The third installment in Kelly's12 Play series, it includes the first five parts of the song "Trapped in the Closet". The album became his fifth number-one on the USBillboard 200 album chart, and sold more than 1.02 million copies within its first three months of release.
TP.3 Reloaded received mixed reviews from critics. AtMetacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 60 based on 18 reviews.[1] Christian Hoard fromRolling Stone called the album a "return to form". He wrote thatTP.3 Reloaded "shows how little Kelly has learned about life and how much he’s learned about hitmaking" and noted that it was "easy on the ears, a little ridiculous and enthralling all at once."[9] Rob Mitchum fromPitchfork felt thatTP3 Reloaded was "one of those albums where every song sounds like a radio single [...] Kelly cruises through genres like he's giving a guided tour, hitting crunk, dancehall, hip-hop, reggaeton, and naturally, a handful of bedroom ballads along the way. Production work is minimal, guest stars pay deference to their album host, and the entire album puts Kelly, his malleable voice, and his considerable persona center stage."[6] Brian Sims fromHipHopDX found thatTP.3 Reloaded "presents a balanced R. Kelly, his artistic genius channeled through several genres, not overdone with just one."[12]
Vibe remarked that "while the content is strictly sex obsessed, the range of musical styles here is as varied and satisfying as the many positions and places the album will take you."[13] In his review forNew York Times, Jon Pareles noted that "Kelly models his singing and songwriting onStevie Wonder,Michael Jackson and especiallyPrince. But he is now the unquestioned master of the ultra-slow groove, where the beat turns into an inner throb as notes ooze and drip from his synthesizers."[14]Billboard's Gail Mitchell felt that with ''TP.3 Reloaded, Kelly "doesn't break any new lyrical ground, but [his] talent for penning original, infectious grooves remains intact."[15] Nathan Rabin fromThe A.V. Club wrote thatTP.3 Reloaded "initially seems like a rote exercise in self-parody, then a delightful romp in self-parody, then finally something in between" and called it "intermittently fun but uneven."[16]Stylus Magazine critic Thomas Inskeep declared the album "uneven by and large, and below what we all know R.’s capable of, this one mostly shoots blanks."[17]
AllMusic editor Andy Kellman gave the album two and a half stars out of five and wrote: "Thematically opposite toHappy People/U Saved Me. the first hour ofTP.3 is mostly about getting rowdy and getting it on, full of some of the clumsiest and lewdest lyrics Kelly has written, a few of which are extreme enough to be parody-proof [..] With one or two exceptions, all of these songs are second and third rate by his standard."[2] Similarly,Entertainment Weekly's Raymond Fiore found that "Kelly descends into pitiful self-parody on his seventh solo album. You’ve heard it all before [...] Unless you’re intrigued by a cramp-afflicted Kelly doing the nasty, listen at your own peril."[3]Los Angeles Times critic Richard Cromelin noted that "some of the up-tempo tracks are infectious, and the burbling ballads have a lush sensuality, but Kelly’s whole approach is familiar and threadbare."[5] Keith Harris, writing forThe Village Voice found that "only a true beat-whore could groove along complacently toTP.3,"[18] while Sal Cinquemani fromSlant Magazine called the album some "epic piece of crap."[19]
TP.3 Reloaded debuted at number one on the USBillboard 200, with first weeks sales of 491,000 copies.[20] It was Kelly's fifth album to top the chart as well as his ninth number one onBillboard'sTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums list.[20] On August 8, 2005, the album was certified Gold and Platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[21] By October 2005,TP.3 Reloaded had sold 1.02 million copies in the US, according toNielsen Soundscan.[22]
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