Before I get to the Friday Throwback, I wanted to quickly write about an interview that R. Kelly did with BET. Why did he do this interview? I have no idea.
If you didn’t watch the video, the moral of the story is that whoever told him to do this interview is an idiot. The interviewer asked him if he likes teenager girls. R didn’t immediately say no or get upset about the question. He asked for clarification. Now, I’m not sure if R is just that specific or what, but when you’re a 40 year old man and another man asks you on TV if you like teenage girls, the correct answer is “Hell no!” unless, well, you do. Then R asked if teenage girls meant nineteen years old. The interviewer is so befuddled that he paused and said that it could be anywhere from nineteen and on down. Then R admitted that he has nineteen year old “friends”, but he said he doesn’t like anyone “illegal”. Again R, the correct answer should’ve been no.
Further on in the interview, R basically says that no one should listen to speculation about his life from people he has hired and then fired, or people he has hired and are currently on staff. Huh? I think what he was trying to say is that people who are no longer on his staff are spiteful and want to bring him down. But that makes no sense as far as why we shouldn’t listen to the people who he hasn’t fired yet. I’m not sure that R is sane.
Now, after reading about this interview (and now watching it), I started to wonder how I could’ve ever been a fan of the man and his music. I specifically thought about two songs that I can still listen to and not have to immediately turn off. One is Half On A Baby and the other is I Can’t Sleep Baby (If I).
I remember going through a break-up in college, and though R. is far more broken up about his break-up than I was, it’s still the first thing I think about when I hear this song. The dude is emotional and you don’t get that feeling that you’re listening to a perverted crazy person like you do when you hear his songs today. If this was the only R. Kelly that ever existed, I could still listen to his music. As it is, we all know that’s not the case.
– I’m not sure about rockin’ all those hats, but at least they fit the weather.
– “I can’t sleep baby, I can’t think baby, I can’t live baby, without you in my life, I can’t go on baby, this is my song baby.” I feel you R. I’ve been there man.
– Man, Biz Markie told you about those dudes that are “just a friend”.
– I keep waiting for a midget to pop out of the closet.
– That is one foggy phone booth.
– “Just the thought of you baby, keeps me up all night long.”
– Now that I think about it, I think she dumped him because of his terrible wardrobe.
So when someone tells you that R. Kelly has never been good, you can show that person this song. He was once pretty good. But that was a long time ago.
