CD Review
Robert Kelly: Robert Kelly Live
4 1/2 stars (out of 5)
Robert Kelly is exploding, radiating laugh-busting impressions of Spanish and Chinese women, burning through ear drums with the reality that children love terrorism (as long as it gets them out of school). He’s a Gatling gun of irreverent cultural nuance on this 37-track album, the ingenuity is never ending. You may not agree with him, but with his vehement, vivacious style it is addicting to see the next way he will bite; you may at some point feel attacked, but if you spin a helicopter propeller in a department store it’s likely to snip a sleeve of everyone’s size.
He responds to New York’s $500 public defecation fine with the invention of a ridiculous Long Islander who treats his family to a public dump every now and then: “Joey go ahead, take a shit, it’s on me. Ah. Go Ahead it’s your birthday, I love ya. Go ahead everybody take a shit it’s on me.”
Kelly mocks and mocks, morphing into a girlfriend conquering her man in video games, moving in and out of the impression, occasionally screaming his moral objection to the female approach to gaming. He later speaks from the perspective of a child praying on the fruition of a bomb scare: “I’m in English class, Push the fucking button you shitty terrorist!”
This CD is honestly too rich for a highlight reel. Choosing stand out moments is as trivial as picking a favorite centimeter of surface area on Katy Perry’s boobs. Kelly is constantly on: Reading the paper would fuck up his nap, Osama Bin Laden is a reefer head with a soon to be released blooper reel, when his mom first struck him in his “krypto-nuts” he thought he got his period, he drives to a dealership to beat his girlfriend while beating her at playing “punch buggy.” While sometimes absurd, he also conveys real life situations, relatable happenstances of relationships or daily life and exploits them with an honest transparency. This fast-paced live album was first recorded in 2003 and re-released on September 4th.
