R&B singer NeYo thinks that people should still enjoy R Kelly’s music – even though the singer has been indicted on multiple heinous crimes, Media Take Out has learned.
In a recent interview with the UK newspaper The Independent, NeYo spoke out against people who he considers “too woke” for their own good.
NeYo is quoted as saying:
“I’ve been in parties where someone will turn on an R Kelly record, and people will be like ‘Boo!’ That’s bulls***, because you know good and well that before this happened, you’d be rocking out to this song, just like everybody else. From time to time, I still listen to R Kelly music; you just can’t deny the quality. Anybody who tries to say R Kelly isn’t one of the best songwriters on the face of the planet because of what he did in his personal life, you’re looking at the wrong thing.”
What do you think about NeYo’s take on things?
Throughout his career, Kelly has been repeatedly accused of sexual abuse with young adults and minors. He faced multiple civil suits and was indicted by criminal courts in Chicago, New York, Illinois, and Minnesota. He repeatedly denied the charges. In 1994, he illegally married his underage protégé Aaliyah. In 2002, he was indicted, tried, and eventually acquitted on 21 counts of making child pornography. Kelly’s own defense lawyer, Ed Genson, questioned the acquittal and Kelly’s public proclamations of innocence.
In January 2019, a Lifetime television docuseries, Surviving R. Kelly, helped resurface the scandal. Under pressure from the Mute R. Kelly movement, RCA Records terminated Kelly’s contract with the label.
In 2019, several jurisdictions built criminal cases against Kelly, and grand juries brought indictments in both federal and state courts, leading federal law enforcement to arrest Kelly and hold him without bail. In 2021, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York tried and won the first criminal conviction against Kelly for a sex offense, with the jury finding Kelly guilty on a total of nine criminal counts including violations of the Mann Act and racketeering. On June 29, 2022, Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Kelly continues to challenge his New York conviction.
As of July 2022, the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator indicates Kelly is held at Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago with Federal Register Number 09627-035. He awaits trial in the Northern District of Illinois alongside his former employees. The indictment alleges Kelly produced child sexual abuse material and conspired with his employees to win his 2008 acquittal through corrupt means. The trial is scheduled to begin on August 15, 2022