R Kelly convicted in child pornography case: Who is R Kelly and what are his crimes

Known for his gospel-inspired music and highly sexualised lyrics, Kelly has faced accusations of sexual misconduct for more than two decades. The singer is due to face another sexual misconduct trial in Minnesota in coming months.

Who is R Kelly?

Born and raised in public housing projects in Chicago, Kelly first made headlines in 1990 after his R&B group, MGM, won the $100,000 grand prize on an American television show, called “Big Break”. However, the group soon disbanded because of money-related disagreements. A year later, the singer formed another group, Public Announcement, and with them released “Born Into The ’90s”, which went on to become a platinum album.

Kelly’s first solo album, 12 Plays, came out in 1993 and it sold more than five million copies. According to a report by AP, the album’s hit singles included “Sex Me” and “Bump N’ Grind,” which were “the longest-running No. 1 R&B song in more than 30 years.”

During his career, Kelly, winner of three Grammy awards, released over 18 studio albums, out of which 14 reached the Top Ten of the Billboard 200. Apart from 12 Plays, other albums such as R. (1998), TP-2.com (2000), Chocolate Factory (2003), as well as Happy People/U, Saved Me (2004) went multi-platinum. Kelly has collaborated with artists like Jay-Z, Céline Dion, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown and Lady Gaga.

In 2012, the R&B star released his autobiography, ‘Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me’, in which he revealed that he was the victim of child sex abuse and gave a detailed account of how he was raped by a female family member when he was eight years old.

What are the crimes and accusations against R Kelly?

Since the 1990s, Kelly has been accused and convicted of several crimes, including prostitution, child abuse, sex trafficking and child pornography.

*Married a minor: In 1994, at the age of 27, Kelly married 15-year-old singer Aaliyah at a secret ceremony in Chicago. AP reported that the marriage got annulled a few months later because of Aaliyah’s age.

*Sexual abuse: Tracy Sampson, who worked as Kelly’s intern, in 2001 alleged that the singer made advances towards her when she was 17 and induced her “into an indecent sexual relationship”. The case was settled out of court. Later, the singer was also accused of impregnating an underage woman from Chicago. This case was also settled outside the court.

*Child pornography: In 2002, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Kelly allegedly had sex with a minor and videotaped it. The case went to court but the jury, in 2008, concluded they could not prove that the girl on the tape was a minor, the BBC said. Kelly was later convicted of child pornography in another trial that concluded in September 2022.

*Sex trafficking: In 2021, the singer was convicted of sex trafficking. The BBC reported, “the allegations depicted an organised effort from the singer and his associates to recruit and transport underage girls over state lines for illegal sexual purposes.” The next year, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison in New York.

*Prostitution: Kelly has also been accused of soliciting a minor who asked him for an autograph in 2001. He allegedly invited the 17-year-old and paid her $200 to dance naked with him.

Despite all the accusations and court cases, music celebrities and producers continued to work with Kelly and promoted his music over the years. The first instance of the singer getting deplatformed came in 2018 when Spotify removed his albums from its curated playlists under its “hate content and hateful conduct” policy. However, several artists like rapper Kendrick Lamar came out in his support and threatened to pull out their music from the music streaming service.

It wasn’t until the release of a widely watched docuseries, “Surviving R. Kelly”, in 2019 that Kelly faced widespread public condemnation. The film “helped make his case a signifier of the #MeToo era, and gave voice to accusers who wondered if their stories were previously ignored because they were Black women”, AP reported.