Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
He was active in music from 1989 to 2019, specializing in R&B, Hip-Hop, and gospel. He is known for hit singles such as "I Believe I Can Fly" (from the Space Jam soundtrack), "Bump N' Grind", "Your Body's Callin'", and "Ignition (Remix)", as well as the "Hip-Hopera" Trapped in the Closet. He has sold 75 million records worldwide, making him the most successful male R&B artist of The '90s. He was widely celebrated for his talent and style as well as his influence on the R&B/hip-hop sound of the 1990s and 2000s, all the way up to earning nicknames such as "the King of R&B".
However, Kelly's image and legacy are marred by numerous allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct, many involving minors. These accusations, dating back to the early stages of his career, cast a shadow over his accomplishments. His controversial relationship and marriage with then-underage singer Aaliyah in 1995 and allegations of abuse by his ex-wife Andrea Kelly further tarnished his image. In 2017, a lengthy story from BuzzFeed News accused Kelly of allegedly running a "sex cult" and engaging in human trafficking of women (some lured in as teenagers) with the promise of helping them establish singing careers. Despite these claims, his career remained largely unaffected until the release of the Lifetime documentary series Surviving R. Kelly in 2019, which sparked a nationwide reckoning with his actions. In 2021, he was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges, resulting in a 30-year prison sentence, and convicted in a second trial in 2022 of three of 13 counts of producing child pornography. He also lost a civil trial against one of his accusers and was found liable in a default judgment against another. Kelly continues to challenge his convictions and maintains his innocence.
Studio discography:
- Born into the 90's (1992; collaboration with Public Announcement)
- 12 Play (1993)
- R. Kelly (1995)
- R. (1998)
- TP-2.com (2000)
- The Best of Both Worlds (2002; collaboration with Jay-Z)
- Chocolate Factory (2003)
- Happy People/U Saved Me (2004)
- Unfinished Business (2004; collaboration with Jay-Z)
- TP.3 Reloaded (2005)
- Double Up (2007)
- Untitled (2009)
- Love Letter (2010)
- Write Me Back (2012)
- Black Panties (2013)
- The Buffet (2015)
- 12 Nights of Christmas (2016)
Tropes present in R. Kelly's work:
- Award-Bait Song: "I Believe I Can Fly" from Space Jam, "Gotham City" from Batman & Robin, and "The World's Greatest" from Ali.
- Downer Ending: In the video for "Down Low", he crosses his boss Mr. Biggs (played by Ronald Isley) by having an affair with his Trophy Wife. Biggs' thugs break in on them, beat Kelly up, and abandon him in the desert. He gets to the hospital just in time to see his lover die, having also been brutally beaten.
- Dramatic Choir Number: "I Believe I Can Fly" has a choir singing the last part of the Truck Drivers Gear Changed chorus.
- Epic Rocking: If you count all 33 chapters of Trapped in the Closet as one song, it totals to 2 HOURS and 13 MINUTES.
- Gospel Music: While not usually associated with the genre as a performer; during the 1990s he would occasionally produce gospel albums for artists such as The Winans; Vickie Winans (who for a time was
married to Marvin Winans of the aforementioned group) and most prominently Trinitee 5:7. - Intercourse with You: Given that he's an R&B singer, almost inevitable. "Sex Me", "Ignition", "The Zoo", etc.
- Large HamMy mind's telling me NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO/ But my body/ MY BODY'S TELLING ME YEEEE-HEEEEEEEEES!
- Man of a Thousand Voices: Voiced every character in Trapped in the Closet, ranging from a character he acts out, to white women.
- Retraux: His album Love Letter has a few Motown style songs.
- Title by Number: Co-wrote "808", a 1999 top-10 hit for the girl group Blaque.
- Vocal Evolution: His voice is almost unrecognisable on Born into the 90's and 12 Play, with him singing in a much lower register than what most listeners are used to.
R. Kelly in Media
- Chappelle's Show featured a parody of the song "Ignition", and its remix, titled "Piss on U", featuring Dave exemplifying Kelly's waste-based recreation. Chappelle joked that Kelly approached him between episodes, saying "How you gonna make a video about peeing on somebody?", to which Chappelle responded "How you gonna make a video about peeing on somebody?" note
- On his DVD commentary, Chappelle says the sketch was motivated by how surprised he was that everyone was focused on the age of Kelly's alleged victim, while to Chappelle the urine aspect was the most fascinating part of the scandal as it had never before entered his head that such a thing could even be conceived as sexual.
- The Boondocks featured the trial of Kelly (in Woodcrest, as opposed to his and the Freemans' native Chicago) as the setting for its second episode, "The Trial of R. Kelly".
- South Park featured an episode with Kelly, Tom Cruise, and other celebrities, figuratively and literally Trapped in the Closet. As per the music video, Kelly seems a bit trigger happy.
- In the Fighting Game Community, particularly Street Fighter players, the term "R. Kelly" is slang referring to a Perfect, due to the "P" icon and the solid yellow life bar.
- In one of his stand-up routines, Aziz Ansari has a small segment on R. Kelly and his live shows, and does a good impression of him. Aziz calls him a "brilliant singer/crazy person."
- He's mentioned in Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop":
- 60 Minutes had Gayle King interview Kelly about all his various scandals. The interview became infamous for Kelly melting down and ranting midway through, even when King offers to pause the interview so he can collect himself.
- Saturday Night Live had a popular skit parodying the Gayle King interview, which was even talked about in the Surviving R. Kelly documentary.
- That's So Raven, in maybe the most epic Getting Crap Past the Radar moment on Disney Channel, slipped in a split-second mention of him in an episode where the teenage Raven is mistaken for trying to wed a classmate's father. This was eventually caught and censored out when the show was put on Disney+.
