CalhounSq said:

Thank you for bringing up this point.

CalhounSq said:

Preach. I felt the same way when I saw some 40-something sisters in Wal-Mart (with their teenage daughters in tow), clamoring about getting the new R. Kelly album. I thought they at least would be horrified by him and boycott his stuff. Aparently not.

thesexofit said:

well, according to my point of view, all the greatest musicians have a period of about 8-10 years when they are in their creative peak and, in many cases, ahead of their time . prince's was between 1980-89. r kelly's started in the mid 90's so his time is soon up. if it isn't all ready. we will know in a few years.

ThreadBare said:

DITTO!!!!!

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

It's called good music...

origmnd said:

When i heard him say that i was like wth?!?..Thats something you dont say on national T.V...Keep that shit to yourself!..He definitely has a few screws missing thats for sure!

tommysoul said:

No, his time is up now. "Happy People" is great, but largely a retread of "Chocolate Factory" (not to mention - in parts - a blatant rip-off of classic 70s soul - Marvin, Al, Stevie et al). "U Saved Me" is clunky, embarassing rubbish.

thesexofit said:

Yeah, I heard that part in a whole new way after Vibe first published the allegations in 1996. Alliyah must have been all of what - 10 or 12 when he wrote that song?
[Edited 10/12/04 3:56am]
[Edited 10/12/04 3:56am]

sweetambrosia said:

You're forgetting his quote last year - "Only Osama Bin Laden knows how I feel right now".

goat2004 said:

-----
So if you perform good music it is okay to be a pedophile? I hate the fact that black people support this freak. It make our community appear so low and dirty.

laurarichardson said:

I don't think it's a black issue at all. It's a fan issue. Some fans stand by their idols, no matter what. R Kelly has a lot of those.

Besides, anyone who has bought an R Kelly CD or played any of his stuff on the radio since news of that videotape broke is supporting him - financially, and, quite possibly, morally too. I'm guilty of the former.
[Edited 10/12/04 6:04am]

TheOrgerFormerlyKnownAs said:

I've always wondered why there was no outrage in 1995 when it was discovered that he had married Aaliyah.There was a lengthy article about it in Vibe magazine and they even showed a photo of the marriage certificate,but yet the hip-hop/R&B community just shrugged.In the following years,there were more rumors of R.Kelly messing around with underage girls,but again,no outrage.I guess because his music was so successful,people were willing to look the other way.
[Edited 10/12/04 6:15am]

DavidEye said:

Perhaps, your right. Of course, I never bought any of his records after I found out that he dig jailbait hoes. Hey but thats just me. I can't help but trip on how Dave Chappelle cracked on him during a skit.
[Edited 10/12/04 11:21am]

that piss was digital,, they do Crazy stuff with special FX,,

goat2004 said:

Really? When?

comparing a girl to a Jeep? Smooth.
[Edited 10/13/04 13:33pm]

jamaulredmond said:

Ain't that the truth. Definitely a Kodak moment captured by video.

origmnd said:

how did this get out in the open?

AnckSuNamun said:

Good Question.

Shapeshifter said:

-----
R Kelly is a RnB artist. He does not have pop hits. Therefore, this is a case of black people supporting a artist who is a pedophile.

laurarichardson said:

So, do you mean only black people in America buy R n B? Utter rubbish.

And for your information, R Kelly does have pop hits. "Chocolate Factory" was number one of the Billboard national album charts.

http://www.usatoday.com/l...elly_x.htm

Shapeshifter said:

-----
I am not referring to his world audience. I am refereing to his core audience in the U.S. One cd going to number one on Billboard does not make you a pop artist. He got that number one due to the pedophile charges and the overall low CD sales.

Teena Marie had a CD land in the top ten of Billbord and she is still a RnB artist.

laurarichardson said:

You'll find, if you check, that R Kelly has had consistent US pop/mainstream Top 10 and Top 20 success since 1992. He's also had more than just the one CD go to number one.

Read on ...

Remember "12 Play"? Went sextuple platinum in the US. "Bump N Grind" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks. That was in 1994. By the end of that year details about his relationship with Alliyah came out ...

1996: "R Kelly" topped the Billboard album pop charts for two weeks. Eventually went quadruple platinum in the US. "You Remind Me Of Something" and "Down Low" were both Top 10 pop hits. He was also number one for seven weeks in the Billboard pop charts with "I Believe I Can Fly".

1998: "R" went quintuple platinum. Topped the Billboard album charts for a week ....


It goes on and on. Plenty of Billboard Top 10s, several Number 1s. In short, he has had plenty of pop hits - even if he is an R n B artist.
[Edited 10/13/04 7:32am]

I think R Kelly has made some good contributions to music over the years & I think that ppl should judge him on facts not on newspaper reports & FX edited internet mpegs. We live in sad times when it seems so much easier to hate on ppl than look at their positives.

Meloh9 said:[quote]

GrayKing said:

He didn't marry her when she was 15. He met her when she was 14 and married her when she was 20 something. They didn't have sex until they were married. Elvis had other women for that

Dang, can't y'all ever get your facts right?

jolajeph said:

You've got a good and fair point, generally, but in R Kelly's case (as opposed to, say, Michael Jackson's - for now) it's difficult to argue against videotaped evidence showing him fucking and pissing on his 14 year old goddaughter. It's also difficult to say that the man doesn't have a thing for underage girls when there is undeniable proof that he married a 15 year old ten years ago.

What surprises me is that Kelly's case - a clear cut thing - hasn't yet gone to trial, whereas Michael Jackson is being hauled off to court in January.
[Edited 10/13/04 8:27am]

laurarichardson said:

Put it in context: if he was relating something he thought about in his early childhood, you can hardly blame him. Weren't you young too once, Laura?

Shapeshifter said:

That's coz Kelly wants to stay a free man as long as possible. He is in no rush to go to jail I can tell you that. Coz that's exactly where he is gonna end up.

Shapeshifter said:

Exactly, I mean who here hasn't licked the lipstick off their mother's coffee cup and wished to marry her when they were kids? Ye who cast the first stone!!


[Edited 10/13/04 8:49am]

WildStyle said:

Not necessarily. Remember the guilty as sin Kennedy nephew who beat a rape charge? Remember OJ? Kelly will have the best lawyers money can buy fighting his corner.