We've long known about R. Kelly and his taste for underage girls. We all saw the video in which the singer allegedly pees on an underage girl. None of the details of the situation—the video, the dragged-out child pornography case, his marriage to 14-year-old Aaliyah in 1994—are lost on our collective pop-culture memory. Which makes the headline of the Village Voice's recent exposé, "Read the 'Stomach-Churning' Sexual Assault Accusations Against R. Kelly in Full," look like old news.
But spend some time with it and you'll quickly realize that you didn't really know that much about the accusations made against him, accusations so nauseating that "stomach-churning" is really the best way to describe them. The documents even reveal that Kelly's brother warned that if the singer beat the child-pornography charges, he would just commit the crimes again. "Trust me," he said.
And now the singer is responding, in true R. Kelly fashion, to the uproar the piece has caused. In sum: He ain't worried about it. Here's what he had to say in an interview with Big Tigger on Atlanta’s V-103, starting at :40.
Kelly seems to be concerned only about fans who are not concerned about his past. For those who are, he directs them to the last track on his latest album, "Shut Up." Considering the patterns of abuse in the aforementioned allegations, that response is so rich in so many ways.
While this 46-year-old man is enjoying his pop-music resurrection, Twitter is reminding folks of all the reasons this man shouldn't be celebrated:
So if you're still working out your relationship with R. Kelly and his music, ask a friend from Chicago. Guaranteed—he or she either has an R. Kelly story or knows someone who does.
Have them tell you all about it. Then listen again to Kelly's response in the interview with Tigger. Prepare for your stomach to churn.
Akoto Ofori-Atta is the editor of The Grapevine. Like her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter.
If you want to see what's hot on black Twitter, check out The Chatterati.Akoto Ofori-Atta is the editor of The Grapevine. Like her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter.