I'm never a fan of spoken word interludes. It's insulting to the listener, assuming that you need the context to appreciate the track that is to follow. Take away the ramblings and you have a fairly tight album. The bump 'n' grind ballads work well. And yes, I was able to keep up with the story.
I feel like I have heard 100 albums that all sound like this, to the point where this went into an Aliyah song after it was finished and I didn't even notice the difference. It's not a style that I generally enjoy. Polished, competent emoting, and of zero interest to me. The songs don't speak to me and the music has had a personality bypass by way of the production.