The Rape In R&B

I hate R. Kelly. Those who've read my blog and had the pleasure of conversing with me know this very well. But for my new readers, I feel compelled to explain to you all why you'll catch me making crude and disrespectful analogies about the self-proclaimed "King of R&B."

I remember where I was when I first heard about the existence of a sex tape with R. Kelly. Chillin' in the William C. Jason Library at Delaware State University early in the Spring '02 semester when a friend of mine came running up to me as I was surfing the web (undoubtedly on BlackPlanet. Don't judge me.). "Yo Chris, that n***a R. Kelly got a tape out, he's pissing on a broad, you gotta see it!"

I'm like "that's a nasty ass grown woman to allow that." Then my friend shook his head. Slow, precise, rigid and regretful shaking of his head. "This chick ain't grown, dog." After watching this barely pubescent child do things that some grown women don't do and having that lowlife urinate on her, what little respect I had for R. Kelly was long gone. Sure as a curious and horny pre-teen in 7th grade, my older sis' copy of 12 Play got stolen from her house often so I could learn how to seduce my finest of lady classmates (in my mind, anyway), but after he turned a soul/funk icon like Ron Isley into a brotherman version of Don Corleone, I was pretty much done with R. Kelly, save for Tp-2.com, which I hate to admit now was a very solid album.

As it stands, some six years later, R. Kelly has not gone on trial because one of the prosecutors that's supposed to be trying this perv is knocked up (the baby won't come out!) amongst other hold-ups. The young lady won't testify nor will her parents (wonder if they have the new G5) and it leaves little doubt that the justice system is shaky not only when it comes to money, but when it comes to the welfare of young black girls.

R. Kelly isn't the only sick, depraved individual to use power, wealth and authority over teenage black girls. It's an unspoken sort of ignorance in our community, some dude, well into his 20s and beyond, finds a young lady, ripe of body and naive of mind and uses the daddy influence to charm or buy a girl out of her panties and control over her and her body. I knew of many girls growing up that had "boyfriends" (squicks me out to even consider those fools as such) well into adulthood when these chicks had just left 9th grade health class. It's like Eve said on her first album "didn't have a daddy/so I put a daddy in his place/thought it was cute to flirt with older cats, up in they face..."

These guys are using their age as some sort of "experienced lover" aphrodisiac to get to these girls when it's quite clear that they weren't/aren't man enough for a grown woman, be it physically, emotionally or mentally.

What bothers me even more than these dudes taking advantage of young girls is the belief that the girls are pretty much inviting this action to take place. I can't tell you how many times I've had to argue down my mother, aunts and older female relatives that just because young girls are developing faster than ever does not mean they wear tight t-shirts that say "I want you, you dirty old man. Deflower me!" The consensus statement that seems to be made by folks in the black community when situations like this come to light is "she wanted it." Oh really? It's just another wicked double-standard that preaches self-control amongst women when it really needs to be men that have to slow their roll. As a ladyfriend of many years once said to me, "just because the buffet is all you can eat, doesn't mean you have to eat it all!" Especially when the fixins are totally illegal and under-aged.

However, when these regular fools are caught playing young girls, they more than likely will at least get their day in court. R. Kelly has yet to have one. And that brings me to my reason for hating R. Kelly; the mindless sheep who support this clown and make his current music seem like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

When I first got to the DC/MD/VA area, R. Kelly was coming to the MCI center for a show, and while listening to the radio, the deejay posed a question that basically invited people to slurp this fool even further. "Because he's a great songwriter," "Trapped in the closet is the best thing to happen to music in a long time!" "He's so damn sexy!" That was a grown woman on the line that time. Honey, he ain't thinkin' about you! *Herman Edwards voice* HuhLOW?! And everybody in hip-hop and R&B that has collaborated with him (and trust me, that list is longer than his child porn charges) should be ashamed of themselves for whoring themselves out selling the welfare of our girls up the river for a few royalty points and radio spins. Ask Ludacris, Ja Rule, Joey Crack, Twista, Usher, et al., if they'd let that fool near any of their daughters/young female relatives? Hell, it's been reported that he slept with his former publicist's step-daughter, who he know since she was FOUR YEARS OLD! When is enough enough? Sheesh.

So there you have it. When you hear me say "I'm sweating like R. Kelly at a debutante ball" or "I'm bored like R. Kelly at a grown woman's convention," you now know the back story. I just wish I wasn't in the minority in my hatred for the Pied Piper (that's a children's story about a dude playing his flute, for Christ sakes) who continues to play black people and our young girls for fools.