Black and White singers lined up to work with R.Kelly or have him produce their music. But in plain sight, the sexual assault continued; an Epic record executive in 2002 refused to view Kelly on a sex tape with a 14-year-old girl. Because he needed him to produce the group B2K’S new hit song.
The album was #2 on the Billboard 200 and #1 R&B Hip/Hop.
The arrest of R.Kelly for the pedophile charges combined multiple police organizations. Still, there were accusations of collusion in his arrest by the police in 2002. In addition, there has been a history of mistrust within the black community charging black men of sexual assault of women. But women of color cases were rarely treated with the same urgency. Black women were distrusted and mistrusted by law enforcement, who often portrayed them as sexualized willing sex partners and not as victims of assaults. This has generated an ethnocentric view that black men must value the “street life” to be accepted as a part of the culture.
Gloria Allred, a lawyer for many women, called R.Kelly the worst sexual predator she ever pursued in 47 years. The group known as #MuteRKelly was created to divest for his music, but since his conviction, Kelly’s music increased on streaming from 11.2 million to 13.4 million.
He stood before a jury following the testimony of multiple young women that he sexually abused and held against their will for his sexual pleasure. Kelly used his wealth power and the music industry to find his victims of more than 20 years and hold off law enforcement, the media, and even parents. At the height of his career, his personal wealth was estimated at more than 100 million dollars.
In addition, the record labels he worked for had interns that worked with him sign non-disclosure agreements that protected the company from his sexual actions. The women outside the record company were often paid as much as 200,00 dollars for their sexual relations. In an interview, Lisa Van Allen, who was one of the first victims of R.Kelly, stated, “I knew that he was a pedophile after she walked in on him having sex with Aaliyah.”
In many cases, his name R.Kelly “the king,” brought in young girls by their families, hoping to display their talent with his help. At 12 years old, Aaliyah was presented to R.Kelly by her uncle, and he would produce her first album. Still, he had sex with her when she was 14 years old, and he married her illegally at 15.
In 2002 R.Kelly was indicted for making child pornography with 21 counts, but he was found innocent in 2008.
R.Kelly was never dropped by his record labels; his concerts and music streaming continued; there was no outrage by the black community. Instead, his victims were viewed as needy, with families looking for someone to entrap.
“ Lyrics from “marry the pussy” Album Black Panties R.Kelly 2013 : “When I call the pussy it come right away And I call the pussy every day I love pussy and pussy love me I can tell the way it strip for me if I am ever in the mood for two pussies Then the pussy will bring another pussy to me”.
Black and White singers lined up to work with R.Kelly or have him produce their music. But in plain sight, the sexual assault continued; an Epic record executive in 2002 refused to view Kelly on a sex tape with a 14-year-old girl. Because he needed him to produce the group B2K’S new hit song.
The album was #2 on the Billboard 200 and #1 R&B Hip/Hop.
The arrest of R.Kelly for the pedophile charges combined multiple police organizations. Still, there were accusations of collusion in his arrest by the police in 2002. In addition, there has been a history of mistrust within the black community charging black men of sexual assault of women. But women of color cases of sexual assault were rarely treated with the same urgency. Black women were mistrusted by law enforcement, who often portrayed them as sexual and willing sex partners and not as victims of assault.
There has been a long perceived image within the black culture of the “street life” black man a hustler and a player who controls all women. Black women are sexualized as the object of the power of this kind of man. R.Kelly in his 2013 album “black panties” the objectification of black women was clearly portrayed. The “black panties album “ As of October 2015, the album has sold 462,000 copies in the United States.
But black women have no say in this image without being called a “sell-out” even if they are victimized. Hip Hop makes more than $10 billion per year in music sales and has helped the revival of the music industry.
The Black community embraced a man who was sadistic to young girls for years and allowed him to go unchecked. In the black ethnocentrism of black culture, the lives of black women hold less value than black men.
R.Kelly was supported by more than wealth; the music industry aware of his sexual abuses provided him with awards. The AMA, BET, and Billboard gave him their highest honors. In addition, his world tours had record crowds, which helped sell 75 million records, fill streaming lists, and keep his music on the R&B radio networks.
The foundation of the music industry fears backlash by the artist that make billions of dollars for the business. For example, in 2018, when Spotify planned to remove R.Kellys music, artists like Kendrick Lamar threatened to remove his music from their streaming. As a result, Spotify and all streaming platforms were accused of targeting artists of color. The companies were forced to reevaluate their plans to drop black artists even when they committed violent acts against black women.
Singer Chris Brown, who R.Kelly once declared, was known as the king of R&B music. As a contemporary of R.Kelly in 2004, Brown made the top hot 100 in R&B singing for Jive music the same company. But in 2009, Chris Brown, before the Grammy awards, assaulted Rianna, his girlfriend, and was given five-year probation. While Rianna won a Grammy in 2009 and was one of the music industry’s stars, the highly publicized assault did not cause any actions against Chris Brown. Other artists continued to work with him, and he released the “Graffiti” album and in 2011, his album “fame” won him the Grammy for best R&B album of the year.
Following a breakup with Rianna a second time, Brown began a relationship with actress Karrueche Tran. Within less than a year Tran, broke off the association in 2015, learning of a child’s birth with another woman Nia Guzman. But even with a break up in 2015, two years later in 2017, Tran requested and was granted a 5-year restraining order against Brown when he threatened to shoot her. On October 31, 2017, Chris Brown released heartbreak on a full moon, a top 10 album. Still, he never faced the media industry or RCA’s retaliation for a second restraining order for threats of assaults on another black woman. But Jive and RCA records never dropped him from their music label.
However, Chris Brown was rejected for his violence against women by Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom for a visa to tour.
The rejection by foreign nations did not affect the U.S. music industry’s streaming of Chris Brown’s music even when he threatened a woman with a gun on August 31, 2016. He refused to allow the SWAT team by serving a warrant to him. Brown was later arrested, but the charges were dropped. However, the pattern of violence by Chris Brown against black women has never been questioned by the greatest supporter of R&B music in black Americans.
The women’s activist group “times up” sent an open letter to Apple, Spotify, and Sony to end their connection to R.Kelly and Chris Brown. However, their music is still on the 300 lists for Spotify.
In January 2019, Brown was also detained by Paris police and charged with the rape of a woman. Still, he later would skip a meeting with the French officials, and he claimed he was innocent. He refused to appear for a May 28 meeting with prosecutors, and Brown’s French lawyer argued he did not have to appear.
Chris Brown fled France, which had no extradition treaty with the U.S.
The Activist Dream Hampton, who produced “Surviving R.Kelly,” claims most black women fear the criminal justice system due to the racist history. She feels that the police will use the situation of a sexual assault to attack black men, even those innocent and that they will not be believed in the end by the police. Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage, who defended him initially in court, testified to his criminality.
UltraViolet, an activist group, sent a written request to remove R.Kelly, Chris Brown, and other men who have victimized women in 2018. Still, they were never supported by black men of the music industry or its executives. Instead, the industry has always claimed that it defended the creative rights in its lyrics. In R&B, the style of sexualization has been a consistent theme. But for many, the music reflects the perception of black women and the value that they have in society. For example, author Paul Butler wrote in an OP-ED in the Washington Post that black songwriter Chancellor Johnathan Bennett (chance the rapper) reacted to viewing the film “Surviving R.Kelly. ” ” Saying he did not value the victims because they were black women.”
He later took back his reply, but this is the mindset that exists with many black men. Many black people reject the #MeTo movement and view it as only a part of the world of white women. However, R&B music has been culturally considered as a part of the life of black people, even if it marginalizes black women. ( Tarana Burke founder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarana_Burke)
Russell Simmons was a prominent music executive who built “def jam records.” He was worth more than 34 million and owned several companies connected to the hip-hop generation. But, unlike R.Kelly, he lured educated professional women who were mature and was claimed to have raped them at his home and different locations. Drew Dixon, a young black music executive, was one of his victims. In May 2017, a film was released by HBO “On The Record” Dixon, along with 20 other women, documented the rapes and sexual assaults by Russell Simmons. Simmons denied the claims and attempted to discredit the women. The film was initially directed and written by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering and had the production support of Apple streaming and Oprah Winfrey. But Winfrey, as Executive Producer, withdrew before the release she would claim “creative differences” that severed the deal with Apple tv. On January 25, 2020, the film appeared at the Sundance film festival, and HBO MAX released it on May 27, 2020. Drew Dixon continued to work at the def jam and never reported the rape to the police. Still, after the rape, she felt keeping Russell Simmons away from her was her real job. So she left the def jam and joined Arista records. Tragically, she claimed that she was sexually harassed by executive Antonio LA Reid in 2018; he was later forced to resign as Epic Records CEO.
Reid was never sanctioned for his actions by the record industry and is still the head of HITCO music company. Russell Simmons and his supporters attempted to pressure Oprah Winfrey not to support the film. Still, she claimed she was not motivated by him to drop her support but by the inconsistencies of Dawn Dixon’s story. But she reported that she believed her and the other women.
Dawn Dixon stated that she was disappointed by Oprah Winfrey as the most influential black woman in the world. Over 20 years in the music industry, Russell Simmons received numerous awards like the Gold Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement in Music from Essence. But during this period, the voices of the women he was accused of assaulting were never heard.
Like so many black women attacked by Russell Simmons, Dawn Dixons believed she was labeled a “selling out” to the white man. Unfortunately, the mindset of black ethnocentrism has engrained this type of thinking.
The rapper and music producer Curtis James Jackson III (50 cents) on social media attacked Oprah Winfrey for only singling out black men like Michael Jackson, R.Kelly, and Russell Simmons for a #MeToo attack.
Jackson claimed that white men like Harvey Weinstein and Jeffery Epstein were given a pass.
The women’s activist group “times up” sent an open letter to Apple, Spotify, and Sony to end their connection to R.Kelly and Chris Brown and any artist who promotes or has a history of assaulting women. However, their music is still on the 300 lists for Spotify. Russell Simmons 2018 sold his interest in the def-jams recordings to the Universal Music Group for an estimated $340 million. He has moved to Bali, Indonesia, which has no extradition with the U.S. There are no criminal charges currently based on the “film on the record” for him to face.
This is the atypical reaction felt by many black men who think it is better for black women to suffer in silence from the assaults rather than expose crimes against them. Again, to preserve the image of a black man.
In his interview with Gail King,
Kelly claimed that he was victimized by collaboration between the police and the families of the women who accused him of abuse; he believed he treated them like a family. But they all testified about his methods of control. For example, Kelly mentally degraded the women with sex involving other women and men. Then, sadistically, he made them prove they were worthy as his partner. But the reaction by his fans was that they were “gold diggers ” and liars.
Black women have the highest rate of assault from their intimate partners of any group of women in America. In addition, the rate of rapes and sexual assault violence ranks the highest for women in the U.S.
The entertainment Industry in 2020 embraced the “Black Lives Matter ” movement. Still, it has failed to make the lives of black women a focus of the campaign.
The culture of black America has demanded justice from law enforcement and the killing of black men and women. Still, it has not made the same demand on the support of Record companies and streaming services that use artists that assault women.
The U.S. government has held Congressional investigations on the danger of Social Media and the spread of hate over the internet. But The Congress has never questioned the industry’s failure to make the record label accountable for an artist that promotes sexual assault.
The leaders of social justice change in America have been black women groups like times up,#MeToo,#MuteRKelly, and BlackLivesMatter but missing from this movement are black men. Black men are the driving force in the R&B Hip Hop music entertainment industry. But a paradox exists where the drive for profits allows for the industry to victimize black women. The music industry and America must ask the question of why they support the music of artists like R.Kelly who was a Pedophile in plain sight? Black America in the year 2020 asked the world if “Black Lives Matter” but black men need to ask themselves questions :
Why have black men failed to speak out for black women’s voices to be heard when they accuse men like R.Kelly, Chris Brown, and Russell Simmons? Why have black Americans been unable to denounce the presenting of awards to artists willing to promote or create music that nurtures victimization of women?
America has undergone a time of enlightenment with “Black Lives Matter.” but it needs to be willing to embrace black women from victimization by black men.
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