July 22, 2005

R Kelly, Creativity and (Supposed) Illiteracy

Having finally seen/heard R. Kelly�s opus "Trapped in the Closet", I was struck by a weird sensation of familiarity in the way the story is told. There was just something about the way the work is constructed that reminded of something, but I just couldn�t place it. Then it finally struck me: it reminds of one of those stories that kids make up, before they have a sense of beginning, middle and end. One thing happens, then another thing happens, then another thing happens, then another thing, until eventually it just ends. It�s like he was making it up as he went along.
Then I remembered that R. Kelly cannot read or write. I am not making fun of him: he has publicly admitted this.

So my question is this: Does the fact that I am apparently the only person who thinks this is a big deal say more about me or the American public?

You're definitely not the only one, I was just talking about this with Phonte of Little Brother, who does a dead-on parody of Kells on his new album. It's easy to dismiss since he so often uses it in pursuit of the absurd, but be real: there's no denying R is one hell of an inventive and imaginative dude. I've always wondered how his illiteracy has influenced the path his imagination travels, and if/how it would be different if he had different tools to feed that creative mind..

(BTW Phonte said he and his boys started randomly adding "oh my god a rubber" into every conversation... like "This pizza is almost ready.. OH MY GOD A RUUUBBER!" or "Man, I think Karl Rove is gonna get indicted.. OH MY GOD A RUUUBBER!")

EDIT: When I read the article Joe linked, I noticed that despite the suggestive headline, R didn't actually say he can't read in the article, only that he's "not the best at reading and writing. I don't have no shame in saying that... Sometimes I don't feel my spelling is correct like everybody else's. I'm a little slower when it comes to things like that."

So I started to wonder if the idea that R is straight-up illiterate might be an urban myth of sorts, spawned by careless writers and then repeated so often it became "fact" in careless minds like my own.

And sure enough my friend Mightypen reports below: "Oh please. This is rubbish. I went to grade school and high school with him. He's no genius, that's for sure. But he is not "illiterate." Contrary to popular belief, the Chicago Public School system really WASN'T that bad. *rolls eyes*"

Posted by jsmooth995 at July 22, 2005 1:44 PM | TrackBack

Comments

i am a huge r-kelly fan but i somehow have never been informed that he had an illiteracy issue.however, that doesn't become an obstacle to keep me from giving him his props on all of his great works of music, including trapped in the closet, which is truely a work of art.personally, to conclude, i myself think that it is the speach of you and alot of the american public for finding a slight disagreeable issue with an outstanding black american music artist.

Posted by: keya ponder at July 22, 2005 4:09 PM

"I don't really siiiing/
I just rap with melodyyyyyyyy..."

Sorry I had to say that. Anyway pretty dope hip hop blog. I like the organisation.

Solid hip hop information plus informative opinions is what a good blog should have.

So anyway, I'd like to add my 2 random cents...

Reading is fundamental (no joke). Instead of saying. "Damn R. Kelly is super talented for doing what he does and being illiterate"...Why don't people say, "Imagine what R. Kelly could have done could he simply read and write!"?

Reading is sooo undervalued as a key component to any artists development. Unless you have the best connections and superb experience...you're going to need to learn somewhere, and there's simply too much to learn to dismiss the importance of reading.

For any aspiring rappers looking to learn to rap, improve their rap skills, etc...there is a great new hip hop site called www.TheStateofHipHop.com that you would do well to check out. It has rap tips, rap advice, enunciation tips, news, improvement articles, interviews and more!...oh and of course book recommendations!

Enjoy all and keep up the good work.

-Blacky

Posted by: Blacky at July 22, 2005 5:49 PM

"I don't really siiiing/
I just talk with melodyyyyyyyy..."

Sorry I had to say that. Anyway pretty dope hip hop blog. I like the organisation.

Solid hip hop information plus informative opinions is what a good blog should have.

So anyway, I'd like to add my 2 random cents...

Enjoy all and keep up the good work.

-Blacky

Posted by: Blacky from The State of Hip Hop at July 22, 2005 5:52 PM

Oh please. This is rubbish. I went to grade school and high school with him. He's no genius, that's for sure. But he is not "illiterate." Contrary to popular belief, the Chicago Public School system really WASN'T that bad. *rolls eyes*

Posted by: Mightypen at July 23, 2005 12:21 AM

That commentary is kinda suspect.

Posted by: k. orr at July 23, 2005 4:14 AM

I wish R-rah would trade illiteracy in for deaf and dumb. His music is repetitive and that closet joint is just overkill. Are we really supposed to be holding our breaths for chapters 6-10?

Posted by: nOva at July 25, 2005 8:54 AM

Ever notice that there are no white people in R. Kelly's videos? What's up with that? Is he a racist?

Posted by: Tree at July 26, 2005 11:01 PM

This statement tells it all, need say no more!

Posted by: djay at July 28, 2005 9:17 PM

Ever notice that their are no black people on most of the major network sitcoms (Will and Grace, Still Standing, ETC)? Whats up with that? Are THEY racist??

Posted by: miskris at August 1, 2005 7:51 PM

With all that being said. R not only has #1 hits he produces #1 hits for other artist as well. I would say he is a genius in music.

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