Happy People/U Saved Me

Happy People/U Saved Me is the sixth studio album and the second double album by American R&B singer R. Kelly, where he mixed feel-good danceable soul records (Happy People) with gospel anthems (U Saved Me). Released in 2004, it peaked at No. 2 on the pop albums chart and went on to be certified three times Platinum. The album contained the hit single "Happy People" (US No. 19, UK No. 6), and the minor hit "U Saved Me" (US No. 52, UK No. 6). On "Red Carpet (Pause, Flash)," Kelly sampled the song "Step in the Name of Love" on his previous album, which was released a year earlier.^[1]

Happy People/U Saved Me
Studio album by R. Kelly
Released	August 24, 2004
Studio	The Chocolate Factory, Chicago, Illinois
Genre	R&B soul gospel
Length	100:12
Label	Jive
Producer	R. Kelly
R. Kelly chronology
The R. in R&B Collection, Vol. 1 (2003) Happy People/U Saved Me (2004) Unfinished Business (2004)
Singles from Happy People/U Saved Me
"Happy People" Released: September 14, 2004 "U Saved Me" Released: October 19, 2004

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	66/100^[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]
Blender	^[2]
Entertainment Weekly	B+/B-^[4]
Los Angeles Times	^[5]
Rolling Stone	^[6]
Stylus Magazine	B−^[7]
Uncut	^[8]
The Village Voice	D+^[9]

Happy People/U Saved Me received mostly positive reviews. The Los Angeles Times said, "Charming, unpretentious and effortless, the singer presides over a party whose pace never flags and whose soul is fun-loving and wholesome."^[5] Uncut said, "Happy People is a cunning, crackling, can't-keep-still classic."^[8] However many found his gospel/Christian based songs to be at stark contrast to his legal history.

Commercial performance

In his home country of the United States, Happy People/U Saved Me debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 264,000 copies in its first week, behind Tim McGraw's Live Like You Were Dying.^[10] The album was the sixth consecutive Kelly solo album (seventh overall) to debut at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. In its second week, the album remained in the top ten at Billboard 200, falling to number six, selling 127,000 copies.^[11] On September 24, 2004, the double album has been certified 3× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipping more than 3 million units (in this case, 1.5 million double album sets, which are double-counted by the RIAA).^[12] As of December 6, 2011, Happy People/U Saved Me has sold 5.2 million copies worldwide.^[13]

Track listing

• All songs written, produced and arranged by R. Kelly.

Happy People — Disc one^[14]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Weatherman"	2:41
2.	"Red Carpet (Pause, Flash)"	3:37
3.	"Love Signals"	5:28
4.	"Love Street"	4:37
5.	"Ladies' Night (Treat Her Like Heaven)"	3:45
6.	"If"	4:49
7.	"The Greatest Show On Earth"	4:48
8.	"It's Your Birthday"	2:44
9.	"Steppin' Into Heaven"	3:54
10.	"If I Could Make the World Dance"	5:28
11.	"Happy People"	7:49

U Saved Me — Disc two^[14]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"3-Way Phone Call" (featuring Kelly Price, Kim Burrell & Maurice Mahon)	7:03
2.	"U Saved Me"	6:13
3.	"Prayer Changes"	6:24
4.	"How Did You Manage"	3:45
5.	"I Surrender"	4:45
6.	"When I Think About You"	4:06
7.	"Diary of Me"	4:19
8.	"Spirit"	3:57
9.	"Leap of Faith"	4:51
10.	"Peace"	5:09

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.^[15]

Delatrice Alexander – choir, chorus Michael Avery – choir, chorus Steve Bearsley – assistant, engineer, main personnel, programming George I. III Broughton – choir, chorus Kim Burrell – featured artist, primary artist Jeff Chestek – string engineer Joan Collaso – choir, chorus Dee Dee – illustrations Rodney East – keyboards, main personnel Felicia Coleman Evans – choir, chorus Sonya Frank – choir, chorus Kimberly Ann Franklin – choir, chorus Yvonne Gage – choir, chorus Andy Gallas - assistant, audio engineer, engineer, main personnel, programming Abel Garibaldi – audio engineer, engineer, main personnel, mixing, programming, vocals, background vocals Omar Gilbert – unknown contributor role Senabelle Gill – choir, chorus Larry Gold – conductor, string arrangements Dejah Gomez – choir, chorus Pastor Chris Sr. Harris – choir, chorus Brandon Hull – assistant Earickia L. Isom – hair stylist R. Kelly – arranger, audio production, composer, main personnel, mixing, primary artist, producer, string arrangements, vocals Gregg Landfair – guitar Donnie Lyle – bass, bass instrument, guitar, main personnel, vocals, background vocals

Paul Mabin – choir, chorus Maurice Mahon – featured artist, primary artist John McGlinchey – assistant Ian Mereness – engineer, main personnel, mixing, programming Jason Mlodzinski – assistant, engineer, main personnel, programming Peter Mokran – audio engineer, engineer Jeffrey Morrow – choir, chorus Jackie Murphy – art direction, design Lori Holton Nash – choir, chorus Kendall D. Nesbitt – keyboards, main personnel, vocals Armirris Palmore – choir, chorus Lauren Pilot – choir, chorus Herb Powers – mastering Kelly Price – featured artist, guest artist, main personnel, primary artist, vocals Riesig & Taylor – photography Montez Roberts – assistant Stevie Robinson – choir, chorus David Ross – set design Johnny Rutledge – choir, chorus Cristino Sanchez – choir, chorus Roberta Thomas – choir, chorus Devin B. Thompson – choir, chorus Uncle Life – main personnel, vocals, background vocals Seth Waldman – assistant Pamela Watson – stylist Nathan Wheeler – assistant, engineer, main personnel, programming, vocals, background vocals

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2004) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)^[16] 62 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[17] 60 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[18] 42 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[19] 20 Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[20] 16 Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)^[21] 20 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[22] 10 French Albums (SNEP)^[23] 19 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[24] 10 Italian Albums (FIMI)^[25] 28 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[26] 39 Scottish Albums (OCC)^[27] 35 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[28] 21 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[29] 26 UK Albums (OCC)^[30] 11 UK R&B Albums (OCC)^[31] 2 US Billboard 200^[32] 2 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[33] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2004) Peak position US Billboard 200^[34] 75 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[35] 16 Worldwide Albums (IFPI)^[36] 48

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[37]	Gold	100,000^^
United States (RIAA)^[12]	3× Platinum	1,500,000^^
Summaries
Worldwide	—	5,200,000^[13]
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of number-one R&B albums of 2004 (U.S.)

References

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3. "R. Kelly: Happy People/U Saved Me" at AllMusic. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
4. Browne, David (August 16, 2004). . Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
   • Browne, David (August 16, 2004). "U Saved Me". Retrieved October 23, 2022.
5. Cromelin, Richard (August 22, 2004). "R. Kelly puts his legal strife aside in a fine new set". Los Angeles Times. p. 66. Retrieved September 17, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Pareles, Jon (September 2, 2004). "R. Kelly: Happy People/U Saved Me". Rolling Stone.
7. Burns, Todd (August 25, 2004). "R. Kelly: Happy People / U Saved Me". Stylus. Archived from the original on September 10, 2012. Retrieved January 19, 2009.
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36. (PDF). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 17, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
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