Farewell, R. Kelly

I have been watching the Lifetime series Surviving R. Kelly.

Miss Info

In episode 4 a music journalist called Miss Info described going to R. Kelly's house after he was acquitted of child pornography charges. She said that, like everybody else, she had a set of feelings about Kelly, but since he was acquitted she left them at the door and entered to do her job. She then said that when she left, she picked up her feelings on the way out. She concluded that this might be what it is like as a fan of R. Kelly's music - we have feelings about him, we put on his music and put down our feelings, when the music stops, we pick them up again and move on.

That was a process I recognised - it rang very true to me. I've long heard rumours that R. Kelly is a pretty skeezy guy (I selected that word precisely because it is nebulous) but he was acquitted of the really nasty stuff. And you know, Ignition (Remix) is a monster and so are a bunch of his other hits. Even the corny tracks like I Believe I Can Fly are damned irresistible. There have been whispers of other allegations, but there are loads of skeezy people in the music business... what am I going to do, investigate all the allegations about all of them? I rationalise etc. And you know, Ignition (Remix) IS great.

But the allegations have gotten louder again, and I have been feeling increasingly uncomfortable putting down my feelings about Kelly the man when I listen to Kelly the musician. Watching Surviving R. Kelly has sealed the deal, I can't do it anymore. I am embarrassed that it has taken me this long, but I am here now.

I can't promise that I won't enjoy it if I happen across it randomly - I still enjoy Gary Glitter's biggest hits if I catch them unexpectedly - but I am going to stop doing so voluntarily. Of course, that includes buying any of Kelly's records. I doubt he'll notice, but I will.