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 A
slick and sexy R&B soulman for the '90s, Chicagoan Robert Kelly has what
it takes to become the Marvin Gaye of a new generation, despite the
controversy and personal/legal troubles that surround him.
Kelly introduced his jeep beats and bedroom grooves in 1992, but he
showed that he was really a player with the 1993 follow-up, 12 Play,
which claimed the number one spot on the R&B charts for several months,
and which had folks such as Michael Jackson calling up anxious to
collaborate with him in the wake of his well-publicized scandals. (For
that matter, Robert wasn't immune to tawdry headlines himself, leaving
fans wondering if he had been romantically involved with his under-age
protégé, Aaliyah.)
R Kelly Links
The rap
on Kelly's first two discs was that he was just another horny guy on the
make, but he showed his musical roots in gospel and hinted lyrically at
a deep and complicated spirituality with his self-titled third album. It
indicated that after three platinum albums, he was still just warming
up.
Kelly went on to score hits with the Space Jam anthem "I Believe I Can
Fly" and the Celine Dion-duet "I'm Your Angel," as well as the more racy
"Feelin' On Yo Booty."
Scandals, however, continued to haunt Kelly. In February 2002, the
Chicago Sun-Times reported it had received a tape of Kelly engaging in
sex with a 14-year-old girl. As similar reports surfaced, Kelly was
charged with 21 counts of child porn-related offenses by authorities in
Chicago.
Although his collaborative effort with Jay-Z, The Best Of Both Worlds
performed poorly amid the scandal, Kelly came back strong in 2003 with
Chocolate Factory and the best-of collection The R. In R&B Collection,
Vol. 1, proving that sometimes you can't keep a man--good or bad-—down. |
