Slow Jamz

"Slow Jamz" is a single by American rapper Twista featuring Kanye West and Jamie Foxx. It was released in late 2003 as the lead single from his album Kamikaze and from Kanye West's debut album The College Dropout. The song peaked at number one in the USA for a week on February 10, 2004 becoming Twista's, West's and Foxx's first number one single. The Kanye West version includes an intro and two extra verses by Jamie Foxx, and excludes the original outro by Twista. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Q magazine listed it as the nineteenth greatest hip-hop song of all time.

Song information

The song is a tribute to classic smooth soul artists and slow jam songs. Kanye West is the song's producer and supplies the first verse, Twista gives the second verse and the outro, and actor/singer Jamie Foxx sings the chorus. The song's high-pitched vocal hook – "Are you gonna be, are you gonna be, are you gonna be, well well well well" as well as "Are you gonna be, say that you gonna be" – is sung by Luther Vandross, taken from his version of "A House Is Not a Home."

R. Kelly

Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967), known professionally as R. Kelly, is an American recording artist, songwriter, record producer, and former professional basketball player. A native of Chicago, Illinois, often referred to as the King of R&B, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play. He is known for a collection of major hit singles including "Bump N' Grind", "Your Body's Callin'", "I Believe I Can Fly", "Gotham City", "Ignition (Remix)", "If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time", "The World's Greatest", "I'm a Flirt (Remix)", and the hip-hopera "Trapped in the Closet". In 1998, Kelly won three Grammy Awards for "I Believe I Can Fly". His distinctive sound and style has influenced numerous hip hop and contemporary R&B artists. Kelly became the first music star to play professional basketball, when he got signed in 1997.

Kelly has written, produced, and remixed songs and albums for many artists, including Aaliyah's 1994 debut album Age Ain't Nothing but a Number. In 1996, Kelly was nominated for a Grammy for writing Michael Jackson's song "You Are Not Alone". In 2002 and 2004, Kelly released collaboration albums with rapper Jay-Z and has been a guest vocalist for other hip hop artists like Nas, Sean Combs, and The Notorious B.I.G.