R.L. Kelly came up in Chicago and started getting attention in the mid-90s. His debut album 12 Play came out in 1995, and songs like Feels Real found an audience with their mix of rhythm and straightforward delivery.
He kept putting out records through the 2000s, including R. in 1998 and Chocolate Factory in 2003. The track Familiar Haunt has that same direct, slightly worn-in quality that runs through a lot of his material.
For a while he worked with a band called Public Announcement. The lineup included Lisa Lopes on vocals, along with Deon Evans on drums and Larry Troutman on bass.
Later on, Life's A Bummer showed up in his catalog, another one of those plainspoken songs that just sit in the room without much fuss.
Keep it compact: a lyric you come back to, a live memory, or the part of the catalog you would point someone toward first.
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