Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
The Baltimore Sun	(mixed)
BBC Online	(favorable)
Chicago Tribune
Robert Christgau	(C+)
Entertainment Weekly	(C-)
Los Angeles Times
Rolling Stone
Virgin Encyclopedia
Yahoo! Music	(favorable)

12 Play is the debut studio album by American R&B and soul musician R. Kelly; it was released on November 9, 1993, by Jive Records. The album follows his tenure with R&B group Public Announcement, with whom he released one album, Born into the 90's (1992). It went on to top the R&B albums chart for nine weeks straight, while reaching the second position on the US Billboard 200 chart.

The album features the sexually-themed singles "Bump n' Grind" (US; number 1), "Your Body's Callin'" (US; number 13), and the more overtly direct "Sex Me, Pts. 1 & 2" (US; number 20). The album serves as the first of a trilogy of albums Kelly later released under the "12 Play" moniker including TP-2.com (2000) and TP-3: Reloaded (2005). Since its initial mixed response from critics, 12 Play has received more favorable retrospective criticism. This album earned Kelly the title King of R&B.

Following the success of Born into the 90's, as the member of the R&B group Public Announcement, Kelly began touring as an opening act for Gerald Levert and Glenn Jones. During the tour, Kelly said that he became frustrated with the poor lighting and empty seats during his set. To generate more attention during his set, Kelly begin thinking of what would be his gimmick to take his show to the next level, something that would make people remember him. Kelly stated: "I thought about it for a couple of days, and I finally came up with a little skit, me just talking to the audience. At the point in the show where I would break down "Honey Love," I would start talking to the audience."

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Wikipedia