Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)
Encyclopedia
"Down Low" is an R&B
song about infidelity
, released as a single by R. Kelly
and featuring The Isley Brothers
, on his self-titled album
, in 1996. The song was a hit, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100
and reaching number one on the R&B Singles Chart
for seven weeks, making it Kelly's fifth single to do so on the latter.
The song was a tongue-in-cheek song that had the narrator fooling around with another man's woman and telling the woman to keep their relationship as a closely guarded secret, hence the chorus "Keep it on the down low / Nobody has to know." While Kelly sings along, the "other man", Ronald Isley
, sings in his trademark falsetto exclaiming "How could you go so low?"
to the song was as equally as popular as the song, which was one of Kelly's first self-directed videos and was the first big video Kelly had done. Introducing Isley as the character Mr. Frank Biggs, a mob boss who employs Kelly, Mr. Biggs sends for Kelly, telling him he's going on a business trip and wants Kelly to take care of his wife, Lila Heart (played by Garcelle Beauvais
), explaining "You know Lila means everything to me", even leaving him money to take her out. Biggs tells Kelly "take her out, take her shopping, give her anything she wants, but you are never to touch her." Kelly replies "hey man, you can trust me," in which Biggs responds, "don't fuck me, Kelly". Kelly plays out the lyrics to the song by having Mr. Biggs go out of town on business while Kelly and Lila go out on the town. At one point, Lila shows up at Kelly's home where they make love, despite the warning Mr. Biggs gave Kelly about not getting physically involved with her.
Later that night, Biggs and his bodyguards broke into the room where Kelly and Lila were seen in bed together. An altercation occurs between Kelly and Mr. Biggs' bodyguards who then confront Lila after injuring Kelly. Dropping him off in a desert location bloodied and beaten, Mr. Biggs angrily gloats, "I did this to you!" and after one hit from a sledgehammer, leaves Kelly stranded out in the middle of nowhere. Later taken to a hospital where he rests in a wheelchair, he discovers a badly beaten Lila in a nearby room and goes in to see her heavily sedated in intensive care. After Kelly tearfully tells her he loves her, Lila squeezes Kelly's hand then succumbs to her injuries, ending the video.
This song, along with TLC
's smash hit "Creep
" and Brian McKnight
's "On The Down Low" incorporates the down low situation in regard to men sleeping around with married women.
The success of the video shown on both MTV
and BET
helped send the song to number-four pop and number-one R&B, giving the Isley Brothers their first Top 40 pop record since 1980's "Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time For Love)
", reviving the career of the group's front man Ronald Isley
, who later used "Mr. Biggs" as his moniker, and was Kelly's third top 10 pop record.
. and the 2003 film "Old School
"
This video is loosely based on the 1946 noir classic Gilda
, and the Kevin Costner film, Revenge
The Isley Brothers and R. Kelly released a follow-up to "Down Low" in 2001 entitled "Contagious
". In both the song and music video, Mr. Biggs returns home to find his new girlfriend (played by Chante Moore
) having an affair with Kelly.
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
song about infidelity
Infidelity
In many intimate relationships in many cultures there is usually an express or implied expectation of exclusivity, especially in sexual matters. Infidelity most commonly refers to a breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity.Infidelity can occur in relation to physical intimacy and/or...
, released as a single by R. Kelly
R. Kelly
Robert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, 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...
and featuring The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
, on his self-titled album
R. Kelly (album)
-Critical Response:R. Kelly received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Jim Derogatis of Rolling Stone wrote, Kelly "has grown out of his unthinking misogyny to the point where he makes a plea in 'As I Look Into My Life' to 'brothers in the ghetto' to 'love and respect that woman and bring...
, in 1996. The song was a hit, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and reaching number one on the R&B Singles Chart
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
for seven weeks, making it Kelly's fifth single to do so on the latter.
The song was a tongue-in-cheek song that had the narrator fooling around with another man's woman and telling the woman to keep their relationship as a closely guarded secret, hence the chorus "Keep it on the down low / Nobody has to know." While Kelly sings along, the "other man", Ronald Isley
Ronald Isley
Ronald Isley is an American singer and is known as the lead singer and founding member of the family music group The Isley Brothers.-Career:...
, sings in his trademark falsetto exclaiming "How could you go so low?"
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
to the song was as equally as popular as the song, which was one of Kelly's first self-directed videos and was the first big video Kelly had done. Introducing Isley as the character Mr. Frank Biggs, a mob boss who employs Kelly, Mr. Biggs sends for Kelly, telling him he's going on a business trip and wants Kelly to take care of his wife, Lila Heart (played by Garcelle Beauvais
Garcelle Beauvais
Garcelle Beauvais is a Haitian-American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her roles as hotel employee Francesca "Fancy" Monroe on The WB television sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show which ran from 1996 to 2001, and as Valerie Heywood on the ABC crime drama, NYPD Blue.-Early...
), explaining "You know Lila means everything to me", even leaving him money to take her out. Biggs tells Kelly "take her out, take her shopping, give her anything she wants, but you are never to touch her." Kelly replies "hey man, you can trust me," in which Biggs responds, "don't fuck me, Kelly". Kelly plays out the lyrics to the song by having Mr. Biggs go out of town on business while Kelly and Lila go out on the town. At one point, Lila shows up at Kelly's home where they make love, despite the warning Mr. Biggs gave Kelly about not getting physically involved with her.
Later that night, Biggs and his bodyguards broke into the room where Kelly and Lila were seen in bed together. An altercation occurs between Kelly and Mr. Biggs' bodyguards who then confront Lila after injuring Kelly. Dropping him off in a desert location bloodied and beaten, Mr. Biggs angrily gloats, "I did this to you!" and after one hit from a sledgehammer, leaves Kelly stranded out in the middle of nowhere. Later taken to a hospital where he rests in a wheelchair, he discovers a badly beaten Lila in a nearby room and goes in to see her heavily sedated in intensive care. After Kelly tearfully tells her he loves her, Lila squeezes Kelly's hand then succumbs to her injuries, ending the video.
This song, along with TLC
TLC (band)
TLC is an American musical trio whose repertoire spanned R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and new jack swing. Originally consisting of singer Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, rapper-singer Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas it found success in the 1990s while also enduring a series of spats...
's smash hit "Creep
Creep (TLC song)
"Creep" is the Grammy-winning first single by American R&B group TLC from their second studio album CrazySexyCool, released on October 31, 1994 by LaFace Records...
" and Brian McKnight
Brian McKnight
Brian McKnight is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and R&B/Pop musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays nine instruments: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet....
's "On The Down Low" incorporates the down low situation in regard to men sleeping around with married women.
The success of the video shown on both MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
helped send the song to number-four pop and number-one R&B, giving the Isley Brothers their first Top 40 pop record since 1980's "Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time For Love)
Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time For Love)
"Don't Say Goodnight " is a 1980 quiet storm soul record by The Isley Brothers, released on their T-Neck imprint. The song, which was released as an answer of sorts to Teddy Pendergrass' hit, "Turn Off the Lights", was an ode to love sung by Ronald Isley who begs his lady in his trademark falsetto...
", reviving the career of the group's front man Ronald Isley
Ronald Isley
Ronald Isley is an American singer and is known as the lead singer and founding member of the family music group The Isley Brothers.-Career:...
, who later used "Mr. Biggs" as his moniker, and was Kelly's third top 10 pop record.
Pop culture references
The song appeared in the tenth episode of the first season of the sitcom MoeshaMoesha
Moesha is an American sitcom series that aired on the UPN network from January 23, 1996 to May 14, 2001. The series stars R&B singer Brandy Norwood as Moesha Mitchell, a high school student living with her family in the Leimert Park neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles.-Overview:The show...
. and the 2003 film "Old School
Old School (film)
Old School is a 2003 American comedy film released by DreamWorks SKG and directed by Todd Phillips, director of the documentary Frat House. The story was written by Court Crandall, and the film was written by Phillips and Scot Armstrong...
"
This video is loosely based on the 1946 noir classic Gilda
Gilda
Gilda is a 1946 American black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor. It stars Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth in her signature role as the ultimate femme fatale. The film was noted for cinematographer Rudolph Mate's lush photography, costume designer Jean Louis' wardrobe for Hayworth , and...
, and the Kevin Costner film, Revenge
Revenge (film)
Revenge is a 1990 crime-drama-thriller directed by Tony Scott, starring Kevin Costner, Anthony Quinn, Madeleine Stowe, Miguel Ferrer and Sally Kirkland. Some scenes were filmed in Mexico. The movie is a production of New World Pictures and Rastar Films and released by Columbia Pictures...
The Isley Brothers and R. Kelly released a follow-up to "Down Low" in 2001 entitled "Contagious
Contagious (song)
"Contagious" is a song by The Isley Brothers featuring group member Ronald Isley. It was released as a single off of their 2001 album "Eternal". The song was written and produced by R...
". In both the song and music video, Mr. Biggs returns home to find his new girlfriend (played by Chante Moore
Chanté Moore
Chanté Moore is an American R&B and jazz singer.-Biography:Born to a gospel minister, she grew up singing in the church and was heavily influenced by the music of George Duke and Lee Ritenour. While in high school, she decided to make a career of singing...
) having an affair with Kelly.
Personnel
- R. KellyR. KellyRobert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, 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...
and Ronald IsleyRonald IsleyRonald Isley is an American singer and is known as the lead singer and founding member of the family music group The Isley Brothers.-Career:...
: lead vocals - Ronald IsleyRonald IsleyRonald Isley is an American singer and is known as the lead singer and founding member of the family music group The Isley Brothers.-Career:...
and Ernie IsleyErnie IsleyErnest "Ernie" Isley is a member of the iconic American musical ensemble, The Isley Brothers.-Life and career:Ernie was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his older brothers formed The Isley Brothers, first as a gospel group, then as a secular-singing group. In 1960 his family moved to Englewood and...
: background vocals - Ernie IsleyErnie IsleyErnest "Ernie" Isley is a member of the iconic American musical ensemble, The Isley Brothers.-Life and career:Ernie was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where his older brothers formed The Isley Brothers, first as a gospel group, then as a secular-singing group. In 1960 his family moved to Englewood and...
: guitars - Other instrumentation by R. KellyR. KellyRobert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, 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...
- Produced, written, arranged and composed by R. KellyR. KellyRobert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, 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...
Charts
| (1996) | Position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 4 |