R. Kelly Has Addressed Pedophilia And Abuse Allegations In A New 19-Minute Song ‘I Admit’
"I admit I am not perfect, I never said I was perfect."
Content warning: this article discusses sexual and child abuse.
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R. Kelly has addressed allegations of pedophilia and running an abusive “sex cult’ in ‘I Admit’, a 19-minute stream-of-consciousness song in which he admits indiscretions but denies all criminal allegations.
The song directly addresses the R&B star’s litany of allegations across eight long verses, having dodged rape and child pornography charges for more than 20 years.
Most notably, ‘I Admit’ refutes last year’s explosive BuzzFeed report by Jim DeRogatis, which alleged the singer is holding multiple women, potentially against their will, at his homes in Atlanta and Chicago, in what was called a “sex cult”. In a subsequent BBC3 documentary, a woman said she was ‘groomed’ as a 14-year-old by Kelly into becoming his “sex pet”.
‘I admit I am not perfect, I never said I was perfect,’ he says in the song. ‘Say I’m abusing these women, what the fuck that’s some absurd shit/They’re brainwashed, really?/Kidnapped, really?/Can’t eat, really?/Real talk, that shit sound silly’.
He also invites accusers to look up the definition of a cult and sex slave in the dictionary, before implying that families have entrapped him into situations with women.
‘What’s the definition of a cult?/Whats the definition of a sex slave?/Go to the dictionary, look it up/Let me know, I’ll be here waiting,’ he says.
‘Don’t push your daughter in my face, and tell me that it’s okay/’Cause your agenda is to get paid, and get mad when it don’t go your way’.
Overall, ‘I Admit’ frames the allegations against Kelly as a “conspiracy”, with Kelly saying he’s in significant debt as a result. He also says that “it’s not right” that Spotify briefly removed his music from its playlists. That controversial decision was the result of a grassroots #MuteRKelly campaign, which Kelly has previously equated to a “public lynching” — in the song, he derides social media for ruining his life.
In addition, Kelly calls out ‘fake friends’ for abandoning him, and expresses disappointment at Wendy Williams, Steve Harvey and John Legend for publicly denouncing him.
He also namechecks DeRogatis, saying the journalist had “been tryna destroy me for 25 whole years”. In addition to last year’s BuzzFeed report, DeRogatis has tirelessly reported on Kelly for years, having co-authored the 2000 Chicago Sun Times report which brought allegations of pedophilia to the public.
In 2008, Kelly was acquitted of charges of creating child pornography, though in ‘I Admit’ he appears to admit he has slept with underage girls. “I admit I fuck with all the ladies, that’s both older and young ladies/But tell me how they call it pedophile because that shit is crazy,” he sings. Kelly also brushes aside his 1994 secret marriage at age 27 to a then 15-year-old Aaliyah, simply explaining it as “love”.
Kelly also alleges he was sexually abused by a family member when he was 14-years-old.