R. Kelly for Dummies

We can't keep up with it all either: did R. Kelly touch places where he shouldn't – with girls he shouldn't or is it all one big bullshit claim? I mean: where there's smoke, there's fire, right?

Today at least in the news: the rapper has been released on bail. Who exactly paid the hefty sum of 1 million is not known, but it is clear that it wasn't the man himself. According to his lawyer, R. Kelly has no red cent left. Upon his release from a prison in Chicago on Monday, he received quite a few remarks thrown at him. According to American media, there was not only a small army of photographers but also a group of protesters shouting words like ‘rapist’ and ‘pedophile’ his way. Quite intense. But what exactly is going on? I'll catch you up in one minute.

Who?

R. Kelly. You know, that American R&B singer. Real name: Robert Sylvester Kelly. Started as a member of the group Public Announcement and launched a solo career in 1993.

Biggest hits?

I believe I can fly, The World’s Greatest and If I could turn back the hands of time.

How famous?

Worldwide he has sold over 75 million albums and singles and he collaborated with greats like Michael Jackson, Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G. and Aaliyah. In 2011, the singer was named by Billboard as the most successful R&B artist of the past 25 years. Quite significant.

What is the exact charge?

The musician is accused of abusing four women between 1998 and 2010, including at least three minors.

Does this come out of the blue?

Nope. Rumors about R. Kelly's sexual misconduct have been circulating for years. Recently, the fire was reignited by the documentary Surviving R. Kelly. In it, several women accused him of sexual misconduct.

Remarkable...

In 2016, he told in an interview with GQ about the fact that he was abused as a seven-year-old boy by an acquaintance. ‘Was that wrong? Absolutely. But it's someone I care about, so I'm not going to snitch on this person. Suppose someone like my mother committed a murder, I still wouldn't report her.’ The singer said that the abuse changed him and that he ‘came into contact with sexuality earlier than is normal.’.

Pffff. And now?

The first hearing in the case is scheduled for March 22. Then Kelly will have the chance to defend himself and until then, the opposing party has plenty of time to gather evidence. There are even talks about explicit videos in which Kelly applies body lotion to a girl, turns her head towards the camera, and then rapes her anally. Yikes.

Aside from the case, the rapper actually has another one going on...

The mother of his three children claims she is still owed 160,000 euros in child support. Things are going really well, Kel. Not so much the world’s greatest. You get it: this is going to have a sequel and I'm all over it.