R. Kelly, Ignition | After Dark 🕛 🌃

On the 3^rd edition of After Dark, we explore the naughty, risqué, scandalous & utterly sexual vibes behind, “Ignition” by R. Kelly. 

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nnuendo? More like full-on sexual vibes! Welcome to After Dark 🕛 🌃, a column featuring songs that are best suited for nighttime, specifically, the bedroom.  Like Controversial Tunes 😈🎶, the records featured here raise eyebrows.  The difference between the songs of CONTROVERSY and DARK? These songs specifically focus on the universal topic of S-E-X. The dark records gracing After Dark are old and new alike, with all genres of music welcome.  On the 3^rd edition of After Dark, we explore the naughty, risqué, scandalous & utterly sexual vibes behind, 🎵 “Ignition” by 🎙 R. Kelly.

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Theme & Lyrics ✍

“Girl, please – / Let me stick my key in your ignition, babe.” Damn, the first two lines of the first verse of 🎵 “Ignition” already has 🎙 R. Kelly showing the full deck of cards. This standout from 💿 Chocolate Factory, alongside 🎵 “Ignition (Remix)” represent the most risqué moments of the album – one of the ‘cleaner’ R. Kelly albums.  Still, only two lines in, does Kelly, who imprisoned due to sex crimes, gets sexual.  His “key” is his penis, while her “ignition” is her vagina.  Sure, the lyrics are suggestive and not explicit, but c’mon, we all know what he’s getting at.

Beyond those opening lyrics, there are more instances of a heaping dose of sex. R. Kelly comments on the tempo, asserting, “See, I’ll be doin’ about 80 on your freeway / Girl, I won’t stop until I drive you crazy.”  The “crazy” part, one assumes, is an orgasm…  There’s more, but you don’t need me to interpret it honestly – it’s straightforward sexual innuendo.  The chorus, on the original, also keeps it simple and sexed-up without being too raunchy.

“We off up in this Jeep
We foggin’ up the windows
We got the radio up
We all up in the back
We got this shit bouncin’
We goin’ up and down
We smokin’ and we drinkin’
Just a’thuggin it out.”

Well, let’s hope him and his girl weren’t caught while having sex in the Jeep… As “Ignition” progresses, Kelly doesn’t give up on the car-related metaphors for sex.  On the second verse, he asserts, “Guarantee you I’m about to get some mileage, babe / And it won’t be no runnin’ out of gas, babe.” Well, if he’s still talking about the D, that might be an exaggeration, but I’m a leave that alone. Oh, and for good measure, an excerpt from the third verse: “So, tell me have you ever driven a stick, babe? / You’ll be screamin’ every time we shift them gears, babe.” Again, it sexual, with the prognosticated result by Kelly being orgasm.

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Final Thoughts 💭 

Believe it or not, “Ignition” (and “Ignition (Remix)”) are tame for R. Kelly.  Still, this is a song that’s tailor made for promoting intercourse – just keeping it 100.  That said, given R. Kelly’s sexual perversions, it makes you feel guilty to listen…

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🎙 R. Kelly • 💿 Chocolate Factory • 🏷 Zomba • 🗓 2003

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R. Kelly, “Ignition”: After Dark No. 3 [📷: Brent Faulkner, cottonbro from Pexels, KoolShooters from Pexels, Luan Queiros from Pexels, The Musical Hype, Zomba]

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