Jul 25, 2018

R. Kelly Addresses Sex Cult Allegations, Spotify Ban on 19-Minute Song 'I Admit'

R. Kelly addresses the "sex cult" allegations, the Spotify playlist ban and his dire financial situation in a new song titled "I Admit."  RMV/REX/Shutterstock
R. Kelly
“They brainwashed, really? / Kidnapped, really? / Can’t eat, really? / Real talk, that sounds silly,” singer says of sex cult allegations

DANIEL KREPS

Rolling Stone
July 23, 2018


R. Kelly addresses the “sex cult” allegations, the Spotify playlist ban, his illiteracy and his dire financial situation in a confessional 19-minute track titled “I Admit.”

“Now the truth in this message is I’m a broke-ass legend / The only reason I stay on tour is ’cause I gotta pay my rent,” Kelly sings. “I never thought it would come to this, to be the most disrespected artist / So I had to write a song about it / Because they always take my words and twist it / Believe me, it’s hard to admit all this.”

Over the course of the nearly 20-minute track, Kelly openly discusses many of the accusations he’s faced in the past few years, including the allegations made by several women that the singer is operating what’s been described as a “sex cult.”

“I admit I am not perfect / I never said I was perfect / Say I’m abusing these women / What the fuck, that’s some absurd shit,” Kelly sings of the allegations. “They brainwashed, really? / Kidnapped, really? / Can’t eat, really? / Real talk, that sounds silly.”

Kelly then sings directly to the parents of women he’s accused of harboring, “Don’t push your daughter in my face / And tell me that it’s okay / Because your agenda is to get paid / And get mad when it don’t go your way.”

He later adds, “What’s the definition of a cult? / What’s the definition of a sex slave? / Go to dictionary, look it up, let me know, I’ll be here waiting / Now I admit I got some girls who love me, they pull they hair / Now I admit they love me talk dirty when I pull they hair / Some like me to spank them, some like to give brain / And what some of these girls want is too much for a radio station.”

In the aftermath of the growing number of accusations against Kelly, Spotify removed the singer’s work from their popular featured playlists, which Kelly takes issue with. “Spotify, took me off they playlist / I admit that I been underrated,” Kelly sings. “I’m not convicted, not arrested, but dragged my name in the dirt / All this work to be successful and you’re bending me because of what you heard.” (They later backtracked on the plan.)

Elsewhere on “I Admit,” Kelly sings about some of the things he’s personally endured that he had previously revealed in his memoir such as his functional illiteracy and the habitual molestation by a female relative. “I admit a family member touched me / From a child to the age of 14,” Kelly sings.

As for his inability to read, the result of dyslexia, Kelly says he was unable to read his contracts as a young artist and therefore doesn’t own the publishing on his own songs.

“I admit I’m at rock bottom / And this shit has rocked my mind / I’m calling on my hood / Come walk by my side / They don’t want me to shine,” Kelly adds. “Women’s groups, my god / Now don’t get it twisted, I do support them, but why they wanna bring down my art?”

“Now what I don’t know what else to say except I’m falsely accused,” Kelly sings. “Tell me, how can you judge me when you’ve never walked in my shoes?”



https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/r-kelly-addresses-sex-cult-allegations-spotify-ban-on-19-minute-song-i-admit-702419/

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