"Guess What" is a song by American recording artist

Syleena Johnson Syleena Johnson ( Thompson; born September 2, 1976) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter and actress. She is best known for her guest appearance on Kanye West's 2004 single " All Falls Down," which peaked at number seven on the ''Bi ...

from her second studio album, '' Chapter 2: The Voice''. Written and produced by

R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967), known as R. Kelly, is an American former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is credited with prolific commercial success in R&B, hip hop, and pop music recordings, earning nicknames suc ...

, the song was released as the album's second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on August 20, 2002. It became Johnson's first number-one single as a lead artist in the US, peaking at number one on the

Adult R&B Songs The Adult R&B Songs chart (formerly called Adult R&B Airplay) is an airplay chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on urban adult contemporary radio stations, whose playl ...

chart and staying there for four non-consecutive weeks. An accompanying music video was directed by

Fab Five Freddy Fred Brathwaite (born August 31, 1959), more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American visual artist, filmmaker, and hip hop pioneer. He is considered one of the architects of the street art movement. Freddy emerged in New York's downtown ...

. The video depicts Johnson's conflict with her unfaithful lover. A

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

entitled "Guess What (Guess Again)" was released as a single and featured R. Kelly's vocals as well as production and writing.

Composition and production

R. Kelly wrote "Guess What" around the theme of infidelity. Like other R. Kelly-written songs, the song had a similar pattern of people complaining and expressing their unhappiness in relationships, with a threat of leaving the romance. The song was believed to have been written about Johnson's relationship with her then husband Marcus Betts. "God. Now, "Guess What", unfortunately, I think that was written about Marcus", Johnson explained to

Jamie Foster Brown Jamie Foster Brown (ca. June 26, 1946) is the former owner and publisher of ''Sister 2 Sister'' magazine, which ran from 1988 to 2014. ''Newsweek'' called it the "African-American version of ''People (magazine), People'' magazine." As an entertain ...

, the publisher of ''

Sister 2 Sister ''Sister 2 Sister'' was a monthly U.S. four-color women's magazine devoted to the world of African-American entertainment. Reportedly described as "the African American version of People Magazine," the publication was in circulation between 198 ...

'' magazine. "I ain't write it, though. I think because of the conversation I had with Robert . Kelly he wrote it because of that." "Guess What" is a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and R&B song, which is layered over a

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

that runs for three minutes and thirty-two seconds. According to Chuck Arnold for ''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'', "Guess What" is a "gospel-tinged

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

". "Guess What" is written in the key of

D-flat major D-flat major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has five flats. The D-flat major scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in w ...

and is set in

common time A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates the ...

with a moderate dance

groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station ...

with 82

beats per minute Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...

(BPM).

Music video

The video opens with Syleena's phone ringing. She then picks up her cell phone and talks to her love interest (played by Ro Brooks, who also played as her love interest in her "

I Am Your Woman "I Am Your Woman" is the debut single by American singer Syleena Johnson. Written and produced by R. Kelly, it was released on February 12, 2001 as the lead single from her debut album, '' Chapter 1: Love, Pain & Forgiveness'' (2001). The song r ...

" music video). While they are talking, Syleena tells him that she knows that he went out with a girl named Tonya the other night. She later hangs up the phone and walks away and sits on a couch right next to a fish tank. The song begins playing. Syleena sings while standing on the balcony of the staircase. Her lover then walks in, takes off his jacket and hangs it on the coat rack. He walks up to her and attempts to confront her but she then pauses him and they begin arguing. He then walks away to another room and closes the door. He is playing a video game on the couch as Syleena sits right next to him trying to talk to him. He then pulls out a magazine and reads it to ignore her. Eventually he walks away, grabs his jacket from the coat rack and opens the door, walking out. As he is walking out, he approaches Syleena's three friends as they both walk in, looking confused. They sit on the couch with her and start talking. Later, her love interest pulls up to their house. Syleena walks up to the door and opens it Her love interest walks up to the house only to see trash bags with his stuff in it in front of it and later leaves. Syleena opens the door for another man, smiles and hugs him. He later walks in and Syleena smirks as the video cuts to black.

Release and chart performance

"Guess What" was first released in the United States, where a promo-only

12-inch The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

single was issued to radio airplay in May 2002. Officially released to retailers by August and radio in October 2002, the song debuted on the US

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (previously known as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay) is a chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored ...

chart. It spent 28 weeks on the chart, peaking at number twenty-nine. It initially entered the

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

at number nineteen on the chart, where it moved up to number four a few weeks later. "Guess What" fared better on some of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

''s other charts, including number twenty-nine on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart and number one for four non-consecutive weeks on the

chart.

Other usages

The song was featured on '' Totally R&B'', a 2003 album from the Totally Hits compilation album series that features popular R&B songs from various artists. "Guess What" was also included on Johnson's

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' The Best of Syleena Johnson'' (2008).

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2002 singles 2002 songs Syleena Johnson songs Songs written by R. Kelly Songs about infidelity