Renowned music producer Jermaine Dupri took to Instagram Live on October 1 to share his thoughts on separating the art from the artist. Despite the litany of criminal convictions, R. Kelly has been hit with over the years. Dupri defended his musical prowess, noting that no one can compete with the now-disgraced R&B singer.
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He said on Livestream:
"R. Kelly put the ‘R’ in R&B.” We gotta stop playing around. I get it. I understand. I’m not here to talk about none of that bullsh*t he’s involved with. He is the R in R&B. Hands down.”
His comments ignited a fire among netizens, dividing them between those who concurred with him and those who were appalled:
"Separate the man from the music and he’s not telling one lie.. R Kelly is the king of R&B."
Several others seemingly felt like Dupri was bang-on with his sentiments.
"No lies were told …but they hate to admit this. Not being able to separate the man from his work." one user stated.
"This is facts!!" another concurred.
"He can’t be denied no matter how yall judge him…!!" yet another iterated.
The comments didn't end there, as many more expressed their opinion.
"Maybe for majority of y'all that I'm seeing in these comments but for somebody who grew up with actual soul actual R&B actual rhythm and blues R Kelly is not that for me I'm an oldies girl and if that is what you consider all these or true music baby go back and have a listen that man is not the blueprint so sorry," one user disagreed.
"That is true!!" another concurred with Dupris.
"The goat," one dubbed R. Kelly.
"I can’t believe people still denying this truth. Give Kells all his flowers & then some. THE WORLDS GREATEST. Bye."
Jermaine Dupris blames plummeting R&B performances on the lack of church-going
The livestream didn't end there, as Jermaine Dupris went on to share his theories on why the R&B genre has been lackluster as of late. According to him, the youth of today are not in church as much as they need to be, and gave several examples like Bryan-Michael Cox and Jodeci to back his statement up.
"Young Black youth of today do not go to church and they don’t have that church band grooming. So when you listen to that soul, the soul that you think is soul is an added piece of information. If you gone’ make these records, it’s hard to beat Jodeci when you don’t have that element. Anthony Hamilton comes from the church. You not gone’ get that sh*t that’s in his voice, you ain’t just getting that from being on the internet.”
R. Kelly was convicted for various crimes involving s*xual misconduct in 2022, and has been trying to get them overturned since July this year. He appealed to the United States Supreme Court that month, stating that his alleged crimes fall outside the statute of limitations, given that they took place decades ago.
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