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Page 1
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Hidden cameras, scandalous headlines and 21 charges of child pornography ...
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Page 2
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As his legal problems mount, Kelly hooks up with Britney, J. Lo and others ...
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Page 3
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Kelly insists he's no monster, but some fans smash his CDs in protest ...
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Page 4
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Kelly hits it big by toning down the sex talk and revving up 'Ignition' ...
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R. Kelly: In His Own Words
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Mary J. Blige: Love Of My Life
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Ashanti: Inc.credible
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Beyoncé: Genuinely In Love
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B2K: They Just Wanna Luv U
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Gearing up to release his Chocolate Factory this past February, Kelly needed the right single to get more people back in his corner. He released the ballad "Ignition" to respectable airplay.
"I did have a confrontation with Robert Kelly about 'Ignition,' " Smith says of the racy track. "I was sort of concerned. I said, 'You know what? This is a little sticky. You need to make some modifications.' "
Kelly took the advice, and although he didn't make drastic alterations, he did switch lines like "I wanna stick it in your ignition" to "stick the key in your ignition." But what really helped radio grab hold of the cut was his decision to make a revved-up remix.
"[The first] 'Ignition' was just simply an R&B record," Smith explains. "It didn't go anywhere beyond R&B radio. When he released the remix, that's when the buzz happened. 'Ignition' remix exploded at urban radio, then at top 40. There's something infectious about that song that just caught everybody's attention. I even found my 4-year-old son singing it. It's a happy song."
"He's the best," Fat Joe bubbled earlier this year. "If you love music, you love R. Kelly. I just heard the remix to 'Ignition,' it's phenomenal. ... 'Can I get a toot toot! Can I get a beep beep!' I was like, 'Oooohhhhh! Oh my God! What is this?' That's that thing, man. The R. gives you that, man."
Other hits followed. When Chocolate Factory was released, stations started playing album cuts as well as officially sanctioned singles, from the feel-good remixed anthem "Step in the Name of Love" to the sentimental "Heart of a Woman." The R. in R&B Collection Volume 1 spawned the sexually suggestive hit "Thoia Thoing," on which he casually sings, "We at the crib, so there ain't no rules/ I'm butt-naked, sweat socks and house shoes." New cuts unveiled during sold-out live shows, such as the self-explanatory "Sex in the Kitchen," routinely garnered deafening applause.
As a result, Kelly has achieved the seemingly impossible. The sex scandal is no longer what immediately comes to mind when people say his name. What they talk about now is his music.
"I think R. Kelly is the definitely the king of R&B," says Ludacris, who worked with Kelly on the soundtrack to "2 Fast 2 Furious." "I'm a fan. Even if you don't like him, you can't not like his music. There's no way. You can try to not like his music, but it's gonna get your ass eventually, for sure."
A year ago not many people had positive things to say about Kelly. Most of his peers seemed stunned and undecided on whether to support him. Now with his hits rolling out on a regular basis, it seems that everyone has developed amnesia and jumped on the bandwagon.
"What I don't understand is people who are willing to forgive Kelly if they have seen the tape during the brief time it was on the street," DeRogatis says. "There's a vacant, detached look of a rape victim to this girl. She is not in her body at that moment. I've seen dead mobsters fished out of the river in New Jersey, I've seen people killed in jail riots in front of my eyes, and I've never done anything harder then sit and watch that videotape."
He's won over his fans and peers again, but soon he'll have to win over a jury. Kelly's trial date has yet to be set, and based on the drawn-out pretrial proceedings of the past year, the trial isn't expected to get under way until next year. The jury will likely see the sex tape, and if it does, Kelly is going to need more than support from artists and fans if he's going to dodge the serious charges that could send him to jail.
For now, Kelly is focusing on the music, letting his tunes speak for him, and occasionally going on tour — with the permission of the court, of course. In the process he's amassed a major stash of unreleased material. Some of it will see the light early next year on a solo record and a duet double LP with Baby, tentatively titled The Best of Both Worlds 2.
"Y'all showed me so much love," Kelly said recently on New York's Hot 97, WQHT-FM, calling in and shouting out his supporters. "[The success,] it's because of my fans. Y'all supported me through the storm, and I'mma keep on giving it as long as you want it."
Or as long as he can.
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Photo: MTV News
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