As a songwriter, The-Dream has crafted most of his hits for women, including Beyoncé ("Single Ladies [Put a Ring on It]"), Rihanna ("Umbrella") and Mariah Carey ("Touch My Body").

But the Atlanta native also knows how to stay in touch with his masculine side when it comes to penning hits. The-Dream's latest album, Love vs. Money, features a couple of songs that the Pied Piper R&B, R. Kelly, would sound more appropriate belting out.

"Sweat It Out," with lyrics like "Girl, call up Tisha, your beautician/ 'Cause your hair is gon' need fixin'," echoes the Chicago singer's sound, from topic to style. But that's exactly the point, according to The-Dream. He even specifically sang the track like R. Kelly would, he said.

"I know that 'Sweat It Out' sounds like Kelly," he told MTV News. "I knew it as soon as I started to write it. I was like, 'Hmm, this is a song that R. Kelly would probably write. And it's about something that he would probably write about. I'm gonna sing it kinda close to how he would sing it.' It's no different than if you were taking a song from the '60s and re-enacting it today. I'm gonna sing this record that Sam Cooke did called 'Chain Gang.' How are you gonna sing it, like Dream or like Sam Cooke? You're probably gonna sing it like how Sam Cooke would sing it. ... [R. Kelly] is a generation right before me, so he's definitely a major influence on my music."

The Def Jam crooner also has another song on his album that pays homage to that influence. "Kelly's 12 Play," which was produced by Dream's musical partner Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, features the singer wooing a lady with R. Kelly's seminal solo album 12 Play. The-Dream sprinkles some familiar Kelly ad-libs throughout the song and in the end, gives a shout-out to the controversial star.

"She like, 'Thank you, Dream'/ I'm like, 'No, thank you, Kells,' " he sings.

"I talk a lot about branding and what artists' brands are," The-Dream said. "What we forget is that we actually are just a soundtrack of everyone else's life. So sometimes you need to go to those certain places to do those certain songs for the people that are listening."