Can we finally cancel R Kelly? Why he needs to be canceled once and for all.
By Alexis Alex
R. Kelly is “The Pied Piper of RnB.” He is a legend in the Black community. You can count on an R Kelly song being played at the family barbecue. But, R Kelly is also a pedophile and has been exposed multiple times for his sexual engagements with underage girls.
Although R Kelly will always have an outstanding musical legacy, don’t you think it is about time we cancel him once and for all?
R Kelly has a LONG history of engaging in sex with underage women and sexual misconduct. First, let’s do a little timeline of this saga.
R Kelly and Aaliyah. Photo via Vibe.com
In 1994, Kelly, at the age of 25, married his then-15-year-old protege, Aaliyah, in a secret wedding that was later annulled. In 2002, a videotape of Kelly engaging in sex and urinating on a 13-year-old girl was surfaced in the public and was sent to the Chicago Police Department. After copies of the tape hit the media, Kelly was charged with multiple counts of child pornography; he was acquitted in 2008. Following this incident, Kelly has quietly settled a slew of lawsuits from women who claim the singer took advantage of them when they were underage. Recently in 2017, Kelly was under fire again when a report from BuzzFeed accused him of holding several women hostage in a sex cult. Soon after this story broke, activist Kenyette Risha - Barnes, launched the #MuteRKelly movement in efforts to bring down Kelly economically. The movement went moderately viral and is responsible for causing promoters to cancel numerous R Kelly concerts around the country. On May 10, after the #MuteRKelly hashtag went viral, Spotify removed Kelly‘s music from all playlists under their public hate content and hateful conduct policy. In addition, the streaming service Pandora also agreed to no longer actively promote his music.
In a desperate effort to save his dwindling career, R. Kelly addressed the “sex cult” allegations, the Spotify playlist ban, his illiteracy and his dire financial situation in a confessional 19-minute track he released today entitled “I Admit.”
Here are some of the stand out lyrics:
(Kelly admits to having sex with younger women, but swears he’s not a pedophile)
“I admit I fuck with all the ladies, that’s both older and young ladies / But tell me how they call it pedophile because that shit is crazy”
(It is the women’s parents fault if they engage in anything with him, and they are money hungry)
“I admit that this is no disrespect to the parents (no disrespect) / But this is my advice to you ‘cause I’m also a parent (parent) / Don’t push your daughter in my face, and tell me that it’s okay (my face, okay) / ’Cause your agenda is to get paid, and get mad when it don’t go your way (yeah, go way)”
(He’s scared of going to jail like Bill Cosby and other men convicted in the #MeToo movement)
“You may have your opinions, entitled to your opinions (opinions) / But really am I supposed to go to jail or lose my career because of your opinion / Yeah, go ahead and stone me, point your finger at me (stone me, yeah, yeah)Turn the world against me, but only god can mute me (against me, mute me)”
“Cancel my shows, that shit ain’t right (shows) / How they gon’ say I don’t respect these women, when all I’ve done is represent (30 years) / Take my career and turn it upside down, ‘cause you mad I’ve got some girlfriends (girlfriends) / Ain’t seen my kids in years, they tryna lock me up like Bill (in years, like Bill)”
Kelly also names Hugh Hefner, Steve Harvey, and journalist Jim DeRogatis, who was the first mainstream reporter to cover Kelly’s alleged sexual pursuit of underage girls. DeRogatis has continued to pursue the story, and broke the “cult” allegations in BuzzFeed.
"To Jim DeRogatis, whatever your name is (whatever your name is)/ You been tryna destroy me for 25 whole years/ Writin' the same stories over and over against/ Off my name, you done went and made yourself a career/ But guess what? I pray for you and family, and all my other enemies/ I'm not gonna let y'all steal my joy, I'm just gonna keep on doing me."
(Kelly also thanks his fans repeatedly)
“But still got my fans, thats a blessing”
“I admit that I love my fans, for all the push and support they've shown (my fans)"
Basically, R Kelly created this song to dry snitch on himself and blame everyone else for his problems. I will admit, this is not R Kelly’s fault entirely, it is our fault for partially letting him skate by all of these allegations for years just because of his musical legacy. Although Black women are the subject of Kelly’s abuse, Black women continue to be some of his most loyal supporters who are still attending his concerts and uplifting him through this time. I know it can be easy to separate art from the artist, but when is enough going to be enough? Protecting Black women and girls is more important than your love for R Kelly’s music. If people continue to give R Kelly a pass because of music, he will continue to engage in this pedophile behavior and blame everyone else for his issues. So please, stop supporting R Kelly in any capacity. This type of behavior is inexcusable for anyone, even if he is “The Pied Piper of RnB.”
