Surviving R. Kelly: Thoughts and Reactions
TRIGGER WARNING: This article will deal with sexual assault and/or violence, which may be triggering to survivors. It will also contain graphic content. Continue at your own risk. Viewer discretion is advised.
Lifetime's docuseries Surviving R. Kelly is one of the most revealing and impactful documentaries I've ever seen in my life. It's a sharp and powerful slap in the face of all people who used to believe in the Chicago born R&B singer. I binge watched the entire series in a single sitting with the sole intent of being able to truly see the perspective of the women that have accused him of sexual misconduct.
My conclusion is that R. Kelly is a disgusting monster.
Throughout that entire docuseries, it wasn't women of an adult age - these were girls between the ages of 12 and 17 when they met him. This is serial child sexual abuse. It doesn't just go into the stories of his marriage with Aaliyah and the fourteen year old girl that he had urinated on and done sexual acts with: it goes into the psychology of a child sexual predator and his upbringing that led to the dozens, if not hundreds, of young girls getting hurt.
It was revealing in the ways that he was manipulating these women, from his own behavior to the people that were around him. The amount of people that were with him include publicists, lawyers, drivers and a lot more to help a man who is illiterate and a predator. It could not be clearer that R. Kelly is a monster - the evidence, that includes videos and testimonials. is overwhelming. You can't protect him anymore, no matter what your stance is.
"What if she wanted it?" It doesn't matter what she wanted, because she was controlled into doing it when a lot of these women weren't at the age of consent.
No longer can I sit here and call R. Kelly the best R&B singer of his generation, nor can I say that he was the Pied Piper of R&B or the King of R&B. He is nothing to me but Robert Kelly, the child sexual predator.
Robert Kelly, the child sexual predator, disgusts me.
Now the question that has stayed on the lips of many people in the last three years or so remains: can we separate the artist from the art work, or do they come together? My response, after watching this will be that it depends on the circumstances. While I don't condone the actions of neither of my examples, I can say it honestly: Bill Cosby, who drugged and raped countless women throughout his lifetime, can be separated from the Cosby show because there is no connection between the two other than his involvement. As for Robert Kelly the child sexual predator put in his songs that he wrote such as "Bump N' Grind", "Ignition (Remix) and more about his deviant sexual behavior. That I know for sure. I won't be supporting his music. If I hear it, I won't go ballistic on whoever put it on, but I won't sit and condone it either.
However, I don't know about the artists that have taken the songs that he's written. Songs like Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" is a personal favorite of mine from Jacksons catalogue. Apparently, it had been written about one of the girls that Kelly had in his clutches, however, knowing the business and that Jackson produced it, he might have completely changed the lyrics to the song and the production to make it something completely different.
Let's not speak on Aaliyah's catalogue of music that was also heavily inspired and written by Robert Kelly, the child sexual predator.
In conclusion, it was an interesting documentary that I suggest you find. Listen to it. Diggest it's difficult subject matter and start to analyze the role that society plays in the monsters that we create. We all listened to his songs. We all used to believe in him. We let it happen for over twenty years. And we said nothing.
We said nothing. And I'm sorry.