When you're the freakiest cat in R&B;, sometimes the most shocking thing to do is play it straight: 2010's Love Letter set aside Kelly's fantasies about voyeur-istic midgets in favor of stately Sam Cooke-inspired jams. Write Me Back keeps the throwbacks coming, ensconcing his creamy croon in dramatic '70s-nightclub strings and funky bedspread disco. His raison d'être is still Patrón-and-incense hedonism, but Kelly's party-host earnestness is far more infectious than his three-way scenarios ever were. A-
Best Tracks:When a Man Lies
All Rounds on Me
