There’s no denying that Jennifer Hudson is immensely talented in the vocal department, but does she take it too far sometimes? On her 2015 Grammy-nominated single “It’s Your World”, Jennifer trades verses with R. Kelly (of all people) and left me wondering what vocal olympics she was training for. The song’s subject matter – giving the world to that special someone – hits close to home and finds Jennifer at her most relatable (for me) since 2009’s “Spotlight”. R. Kelly obtains the sole songwriting credit and thankfully veers from the composition issues that plagued lead single “Walk It Out”. By the second verse (around 1:35), Jhud picks up the vocal momentum and just after Kelly’s verse (3:15) things start going downhill. But beginning at 3:36, Hudson and Kelly unsuccessfully attempt to trade-off high notes. While Jhud soars into window-breaking territories, Kelly’s poor, undermined vocal comes off as more of a grunt. It’s quite laughable to hear Robert try to compete with her – maybe that’s why it got nominated for a Grammy. But in all, it’s vocal acrobatics at it’s best and worst (literally). “World” was premiered at the BET Awards way back in June, so it’s aging quickly for and R&B single. Only a video – hopefully without the reenactment of said high notes above – could save Jennifer’s latest from flopping. Listen and download Jennifer Hudson and R. Kelly’s “It’s Your World” duet below.

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