R. Kelly’s New Memoir Fails to Address Aaliyah, Sex Tape
In new memoir, Kelly believes he can write, but fails to unopen what’s trapped in the closet
Along with new music out this summer (Write Me Back), r&b singer/songwriter R. Kelly is hoping to write a love letter to his fans with his new book, Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me. Ironically, the tell-all omits a great deal of important, raw details that ultimately altered the Kelz’s popularity into the troubled chaos he’s been battling ever since. There’s no mention of those pesky allegations about his quick marriage with the late r&b singer Aaliyah in 1994 while she was only fifteen years old. (The “secret” marriage was annulled in a matter of days.)
According to Demetrius Smith, Sr., one of Kelly’s entourage members, he confessed in his book The Man Behind the Man that Kelly feared that Aaliyah was pregnant.
But don’t expect to read any of those details or anything pertaining to the infamous sex tape either. Kelly was found not guilty in participating in the recorded sexual acts, despite the prosecution conclusion confirming that Kelly was involved. Strangely enough, Kelly was found not guilty in the trial, so it’s not as if he had a gag order on him to not talk about the case or its details.
Kelly is also desperately trying to reinvent his persona by appealing to old-school r&b fans with his last two retro albums. And the reinvent has worked well on a musical level, earning him high-fives from critics. But karma hasn’t been a strong ally to Kelly since his financial woes were made public this year. Tax woes are eating him at the gut ($4.8 million, according to TMZ) and his divorce from ex-wife Andrea that ended underneath the public radar.
Recently, Kelly was rushed back to Chicago after “suffering from complications” preventing him from attending his own book launch and signing in New York. The “complications” are connected to the vocal surgery he had last year, which led to the cancellations of the remaining dates of his U.S. tour.
Kelz is still considered to be a very private person. Until he’s ready to talk it about it all, this new book will bear the equivalence of a coffee table checkout rather than a serious memoir.
Meanwhile, Andrea is slated to appear on the upcoming VH1 reality-TV series, Hollywood Exes. She’ll probably do more talking than Kelz.
So what do you think?
Pick or pass on the book?
Did you think Kelz has truly repented?
Speak your thoughts.
