R. Kelly Talks Upcoming Tour, 'Cruel Summer' Feature and Next Album

R. Kelly has always been a moodsetter, so it should come as no surprise that he calls his upcoming Single Ladies tour "one big, giant dating game."

In a recent interview with Billboard, the veteran R&B crooner said "Feelin' Single" off his latest album Write Me Back inspired the tour concept. "That (single) goes No. 1 and I said, 'Y'know what, I want to do a whole concept tour called the Single Ladies Tour and bring the single ladies out," Kelly said. "I know there's going to be couples in the audience, which is great. At the same time...I feel like wherever there's a single ladies party, there's gonna be a whole bunch of single guys, so we'll just call it one big dating game."

Kellz also revealed how his collaboration on the recently dropped G.O.O.D. Music Cruel Summer compilation came about. 'Kanye sent me a track he was working on." Kelly recalls. "It felt good to both of us. He trusts my talent and I trust his talent. I knew Kanye way before he was known. We've always had fun in the clubs or wherever we were, just kickin' it, but we never had a chance to get in the studio before and hook up like this, and I'm just glad we finally got that chance. I'm just very honored to be on this track working with him."

He also confirmed some new music from him is on the way. Kelly is gearing up for his next album, the sexually explicit Black Panties while a third edition of his Trapped in the Closet series is due this fall.

For the fans craving the R. Kelly of old, he promises that his 22-date tour (his first road trip since his throat surgery in 2011) will bring the best of both worlds. "Make no mistake about it; R. Kelly is gonna do old school R. Kelly," he said. "There'll be a lot of the '12 Play' version of R. Kelly, mixed with the gentleman R. Kelly...You've got to package a show like this. It's something you've got to put on the shelves."

Read the full interview here.