When you hear the name R. Kelly, the thought of lively and catchy music may pop into your head. You may think of the R&B star that you used to listen to in your younger years. The amount of shock that hit when researching this man was horrifying; he is guilty of so many sickening things that few had any clue about. While researching R. Kelly and watching a documentary about his acts, Surviving R. Kelly, I find myself wondering how any person could be capable of the acts he performed, justifying them as something that just happens with fame.

Beginning of the Obsession (Early Life):

From a young age, R. Kelly was known to have a very suggestive view on his sexual image. He began releasing songs that even his mother found weren’t appropriate to release, including lyrics that people may find a little disturbing. In some of his music videos, videos of underage and younger girls are seen dancing somewhat sexually, which is perhaps the first hint of suspicion many had regarding R. Kelly and his interest in underage girls. When I first began watching the series, Surviving R. Kelly, I was shocked to hear that R. Kelly had such a traumatic past that unfortunately could have carried over into his crimes later in his life. R. Kelly states that he was taken advantage of as young as the age of six by people even of his own family. He says that these events may have changed him and caused him to be exposed to the sexual world of music, found particularly in hip hop and rap songs during his time.

The Marriage of R. Kelly and Aaliyah (1994):

R. Kelly, 27, married the 15-year-old singer, Aaliyah. Some sources say that she lied about her age on the marriage certificate, saying she was actually eighteen years old. He was known to show an interest in her very early, somewhat taking her under his wing in terms of her music career. One of the first signs of a relationship between Aaliyah and Kelly was possibly her release of the album Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number produced and written by R. Kelly himself. It was kind of concerning to hear that this young girl had a song produced about being in a relationship with much older men. R. Kelly was possibly shaping Aaliyah’s image into being more grown up and rebellious so he could convince her to be in a relationship with him. Since Aaliyah died in a plane crash in 2001, he has rarely spoken about her.

Charges of Child Pornography (June 2002):

In all, R. Kelly has been charged with 21 counts of making child pornography. His actual arrest started from a video that was anonymously submitted to the Chicago Sun-Times, with allegations that the man in the video was, in fact, R. Kelly. The video eventually made it to FBI Forensics to identify if the man was actually R. Kelly. The charges related to one girl who was born in September 1984. Kelly was charged with a $750,000 bail and denied the charges in an MTV interview, pleading not guilty in court. It took quite a long time (six years) for the case to actually make it to court. The case went on around the time R. Kelly released his album Trapped in the Closet. By 2004, R. Kelly had been charged with twelve more counts of making child pornography in Florida and was finally arrested in his vacation home.

Allegations of “Cult” of Women (July 2017):

One of the most known allegations against R. Kelly was his “sexual cult,” keeping women under his care for years and years. R. Kelly is known to allegedly seduce women into staying with him by appealing to their own goals and dreams for the future. For example, Kelly would tell women that he would boost their music career, guaranteeing that if they stayed and worked with him, they would become famous. Kelly would control almost every aspect of the girls’ lives, from how they eat, when they sleep, or when they leave the house—if ever. The women weren’t allowed any contact with friends or family. The allegations probably came from families after saying that their daughters had vanished with no contact for months.