‘I’m just glad to have a natural-born gift, man’: R. Kelly on his 25 years as a hip-hop titan
Singer, songwriter, production guru – in his prolific career, Kelly has worked with everyone from Michael Jackson to the Isley Brothers and Britney Spears. Now he’s back with his 13th studio album, The Buffet
Robert Kelly, aka R. Kelly, has been a writer and purveyor of ribald, celebratory and occasionally even inspiring R&B hits for nearly 25 years.
The Chicago singer, songwriter and producer first appeared during the new jack swing era, and for much of the 1990s provided the de facto R&B sound of the contemporary “blazing hip-hop and R&B” radio format with a string of sex ballads, including Bump N’ Grind and Your Body’s Callin’, mixed with undeniable backyard cookout jams, such as the Ignition (Remix), Fiesta (Remix) and Happy People.
As a producer, Kelly wrote and produced Michael Jackson’s final No. 1 hit, You Are Not Alone, helped some of his heroes, including the Isley Brothers and “Uncle” Charlie Wilson of The Gap Band, return to chart relevance and had hits with Britney Spears, Celine Dion and more.
Kelly hit true crossover gold with the Grammy-winning (he’s bagged three) inspirational ballad I Believe I Can Fly, which was featured in the movie Space Jam, but in 2002, faced child-sex allegations stemming from a heavily bootlegged sex tape, which arguably derailed his mainstream stardom even though he was eventually acquitted on all counts.
Kelly returned to making hits, including the entertaining and totally crazy, 33-chapter “hip-hopera” video series Trapped in the Closet.