When the #MuteRKelly hashtag went viral in May, Women of Color of Time’s Up asked corporations to cut ties with the singer, including RCA Records (the label currently producing and distributing his music), Ticketmaster, Spotify and Apple Music. There have been over two decades’ worth of sexual assault allegations against the 51-year-old, but he has denied everything. He even claimed he was being “publicly lynched” and that the #MuteRKelly movement was just using him for publicity.
Now R. Kelly has released a bizarre new 19-minute song that addresses — in its own way — the accusations, including a mention of the late, great R&B singer Aaliyah.
The song, titled “I Admit It,” frames Kelly as a victim who is illiterate, being taken advantage of by record labels and unfairly being attacked for his sexual proclivities. However, one of the strangest moments was the mention of Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in 2001.
R. Kelly, 27 at the time, illegally married R&B singer Aaliyah in Chicago on Aug. 31, 1994. She was only 15 years old. On the wedding certificate, her age was listed as 18, but the marriage was annulled in February of 1995. VIBE famously published the wedding certificate.
Also in “I Admit It,” Kelly referenced an interview when Wendy Williams asked about Aaliyah and the sex tape of him allegedly urinating on a teenager girl.
“She said ‘What about Aaliyah said?’ / Love / She said ‘What about the tape?’
I said hush / I said my lawyer said ‘don’t say noth’ / But I can tell you I’ve been set up (up).'”
Many people on social media were outraged by the Aaliyah mention, as shown below:
Any mention of Aaliyah from R. Kelly is deeply disrespectful. As we showed above, it was clear he married a teenager and unless he admits to his pedophilia, just saying “Love” to a victim of child abuse is disturbing and disgusting.
He also addressed the accusations of a sex cult:
“What’s the definition of a cult?/ What’s the definition of a sex slave? / Go to the dictionary, look it up / Let me know I’ll be here waiting / Say I’m abusing these women. What the f**k? That’s some absurd shit. They brainwashed, really? Kidnapped, really? Can’t eat, really? Real talk that s**t sounds silly.”
Once again, Kelly has taken zero accountability for anything. If you can stomach it, the song is below:
For a complete timeline of Kelly’s history with sexual assault allegations, click here.
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