Editing R. Kelly (section)

=== 1995–1996 ''R. Kelly'' and "I Believe I Can Fly" ===
{{Main|R. Kelly (album)|I Believe I Can Fly}}
In 1995, Kelly garnered his first [[Grammy Awards|Grammy]] nominations; two for writing, producing, and composing Michael Jackson's last number-one hit, "[[You Are Not Alone]]".<ref name="grammys-r-kelly2" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2MMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54|title=R. Kelly: What's next for the Grammy Award-winning Superstar|date=June 8, 1998 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company }}</ref>

Kelly's success continued with the November 14, 1995, release of ''[[R. Kelly (album)|R. Kelly]]'', his eponymous second studio album. Critics praised him for his departure from salacious bedroom songs to embracing vulnerability. ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' contributor Stephen Holden described Kelly as "The reigning king of pop-soul sex talks a lot tougher than Barry White, the father of such fluffed-up pillow talks and along with Marvin Gaye and Donny Hathaway, [both] major influences for Kelly."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/17/arts/pop-briefs-020826.html?ref=rkelly|location=New York|work=The New York Times|title=Pop Briefs|date=December 17, 1995|first=Stephen|last=Holden}}</ref> In December 1995, Professor [[Michael Eric Dyson]] critiqued Kelly's self-titled album "R. Kelly" for ''[[Vibe (magazine)|VIBE]]''. Dyson described Kelly's growth from the ''12 Play'' album: "Kelly reshapes his personal turmoil to artistic benefit" and noted that Kelly is "reborn before our very own ears".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ySsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA138|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820033106/https://books.google.com/books?id=ySsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA138|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 20, 2020|title=R. Kelly (album) Review|date=December 1995}}</ref>

The album reached number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, becoming Kelly's first number one album on the chart, and reached number one on the R&B album charts; his second. The ''R. Kelly'' album spawned three platinum hit singles: "[[You Remind Me of Something]]" (U.S. Hot 100: #4, U.S. R&B: #1), "[[I Can't Sleep Baby (If I)]]" (U.S. Hot 100: #5, U.S. R&B: #1), and "[[Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)]]" (U.S. Hot 100: #4, U.S. R&B: #1); a duet with [[Ronald Isley]]. Kelly's self-titled album sold four million copies, receiving 4× platinum certification from the RIAA.<ref name="RIAA albums"/> He promoted the album with a 50-city "Down Low Top Secret Tour" with [[LL Cool J]], [[Xscape (band)|Xscape]], and Solo.<ref name="Pareles-1996">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/13/arts/music-review-invitations-to-passion-of-a-certain-kind.html?ref=rkelly|location=New York|work=The New York Times|title=MUSIC REVIEW;Invitations to Passion of a Certain Kind|date=April 13, 1996|first=Jon|last=Pareles}}</ref>

On November 26, 1996, Kelly released "[[I Believe I Can Fly]]", an inspirational song originally released on the soundtrack for the film ''[[Space Jam]]''. "I Believe I Can Fly" reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and No. 1 on the UK charts for three weeks and won three [[40th Grammy Awards|Grammy Awards in 1998]].<ref name="grammys-r-kelly2"/><ref name="allmusic"/> In that same year, he contributed to "Freak Tonight" for the ''[[A Thin Line Between Love and Hate]]'' soundtrack.