“I will always do R. Kelly – I’m not perfect, but I’m perfectly me.”
― R. Kelly
“I only feel sorry for weak people. And mostly what I’ve come to find is that the weak people are the ones that are the haters.”
― R. Kelly
“You don’t want R&B singers to get into beef. Leave that to the rappers, let them do that – R&B, be classy.”
― R. Kelly
“I’m no angel, but I’m no monster, either.”
― R. Kelly
“I’ve been blackmailed a billion times. I’ve been sued for ridiculous things. At one point in my life, I was an ATM machine. But I’m used to that. You don’t get used to it, but I’m used to the fact that people will do this, even your own family members, and I don’t hate none of them.”
― R. Kelly
“Love has never failed. It has won every battle. And today and forever more it will go on undefeated. I’m also a very loving person.”
― R. Kelly
“I’m a lover of all sorts of music, which makes me a chameleon when it comes to performing anything, whether it’s opera or whatever. As long as it’s good and it feels good, I’m going to cling to it.”
― R. Kelly
“In life, you have people that love to party. That’s me. People that love God. That’s me. People that love sex. That’s me. People that love people. That’s me. And people that make mistakes. That’s me also.”
― R. Kelly
“R. Kelly is a thing on TV, but nobody knows Robert and what he’s been through.”
― R. Kelly
“’Love Letter’ reminds me of ‘Chocolate Factory’ and ‘Happy People.’ It’s a little bit of both of those, yeah. I just wanted it to be classy, man. And romantic. And maybe 10 percent sexy.”
― R. Kelly
“Fans can never accuse R. Kelly of doing the same thing; I keep mixing it up.”
― R. Kelly
“I am very conscious of who I am as an artist and as an inspirational person.”
― R. Kelly
“Other kids could read, other kids could write, other kids could spell, they could do math. I felt like an alien. I felt like an outcast. I felt like, ‘What is going to happen to me?’”
― R. Kelly
“They say marriage will change you but it didn’t change me. Being in love changed me.”
― R. Kelly
“I’ve done a lot of things that I regret.”
― R. Kelly
“You know, I’m no different from a fireman. You got to run into a fire no matter how big the blaze is.”
― R. Kelly
“Not only did I get an A in music but I got an A in ladies.”
― R. Kelly
“To hear the appreciation, the screams – that’s what any of us need. We’re at our best when we’re wanted.”
― R. Kelly
“Once I started singing, I didn’t have to try to be cool. I was just one of the coolest guys around.”
― R. Kelly
“I like to laugh and make people have fun.”
― R. Kelly
“I always follow what my spirit tells me to do.”
― R. Kelly
“I don’t really know the story of the Pied Piper. I don’t read stories, first of all. I just remember either a rabbit or a rat leading people out of the village with a flute. That’s all I can tell you.”
― R. Kelly
“When you’re me, when you’re R. Kelly, everybody wants a piece of you, and if you don’t give ’em a piece they’ll find a way to get a piece of you one way or the other.”
― R. Kelly
“If there’s no fire, there’s no scream. If there’s no scream, then no one hears you and no one comes to help you in the first place. The depth of my struggle has definitely determined the height of my success. To be able to teach my kids not just about success but about the struggle that comes with it.”
― R. Kelly
“I’m in love with music, and I’m pregnant by it. It’s like having twins. Or triplets. Or eight-lets!”
― R. Kelly
“I love the smell of a theater. The old rooms and the carpet and all that stuff. I love to tell stories. Even before I was doing music, I saw myself as a director. So most of my songs come in a play form, you know, where there are characters and stories, so I like to go beyond just the song sometimes.”
― R. Kelly
“I still feel like I’m alone at times – even if I’m in the midst of a million people. Because no one – including me – understands my mind creatively. I haven’t really been formally introduced to my gift yet. I feel like I’m still on the runway.”
― R. Kelly
“When you hear romantic music, it makes you want to take your girl out to dinner or buy her something or take her out in the moonlight or take her on a walk.”
― R. Kelly
“When a person is found not guilty, they’re found not guilty.”
― R. Kelly
“I gave a Christmas party last year – well, two Christmases ago – where I did a Sam Cooke show. I didn’t perform as R. Kelly. I performed the Sam Cooke show from 1964, when he performed at the Copacabana.”
― R. Kelly
“Country music tells stories, and I’ve always loved to tell stories.”
― R. Kelly
“’Trapped In The Closet’ lives in a place on the earth on its own. It pays its own rent, it’s its own landlord, it owns the building, it’s everything. And it’s so separate from what R. Kelly does; that’s the great thing about it.”
― R. Kelly
“I know that I’m not a criminal. People say that, but my music speaks for itself. And I believe in my music.”
― R. Kelly
“I believe the people that buy my music believes in me.”
― R. Kelly
“People can say whatever they want about you without knowing the facts. They can criticize you without even knowing you, and hate you when they don’t even know you. All of a sudden, you’re, like, the bin Laden of America. Osama bin Laden is the only one who knows exactly what I’m going through.”
― R. Kelly
“Well, I believe that the depth of your struggle can determine the height of your success. I was inspired to come out of everything I’ve been through and end up in a place where I never thought that I would be.”
― R. Kelly
“I’ve always had mostly women come out to see me perform. That’s the reason the guys show up; they know R. Kelly is going to draw the women. Most of the songs I’m singing are catering to women anyway.”
― R. Kelly
“I want America to know that you can’t believe everything you hear, and nowadays, you can’t believe everything you see.”
― R. Kelly
“Just listen to all this sweet, sweet music. I’m working the music.”
― R. Kelly
“I’ve programmed myself musically to come up with love-feeling tracks that are romantic, sexy, but classy, all in one. And that’s the challenge. Once I create that music, then the lyrical content starts to come – you know, the stories and things like that.”
― R. Kelly
“I’m the Ali of today. I’m the Marvin Gaye of today. I’m the Bob Marley of today. I’m the Martin Luther King, or all the other greats that have come before us. And a lot of people are starting to realise that now.”
― R. Kelly
“I’m very responsible. And with ability you have to have responsibility. I’m not perfect. But you have to make sure that your children will know that daddy makes mistakes.”
― R. Kelly
“I learnt a whole lot from my mother. About music, relationships, being a good person, loving people, the whole of life. I learnt about everything from her. Every single day I think about her. All through the day.”
― R. Kelly
“My greatest competition is, well, me.”
― R. Kelly
“I want people to notice my writing abilities are real and that I’m not just stuck in one situation.”
― R. Kelly
“When I was performing on streets, there was no pressure. People accepted me. They loved me without knowing me.”
― R. Kelly
“I was the highest-paid street performer, probably, in the history of Chicago. I was making like $800 a day.”
― R. Kelly
“You know, I love plays. I love the smell of a theater. The old rooms and the carpet and all that stuff. I love to tell stories. Even before I was doing music, I saw myself as a director.”
― R. Kelly
“I wouldn’t be able to do the songs as long as I’ve been doing if I didn’t feel the pulse of the world. But I can feel people and I know what they want. I feel like I know how they are, because I am the people. And I just have a gift.”
― R. Kelly
“If I’m going to be a leader then I have to go places that other people are afraid to go to. That’s what makes a leader. To be not afraid to step out and go over the frontline. To stare darkness right in the face.”
― R. Kelly
“You’re younger, you might want to go to clubs and kick it, but as you get older, you start seeing that life has more meaning to it. The people that you love are the people you want to start trusting and start wanting them to trust you and start respecting them.”
― R. Kelly
“If you’re gonna tell your life story, you gotta be honest, or don’t do it.”
― R. Kelly
“My mother wasn’t rich, and I never seen my father. I was a street performer. I’ve been shot. And now I’m known around the world, and I’ve touched a lot of people with my music. That’s one of the great testimonies that’s gonna go down in history.”
― R. Kelly
“My fans have always loved my metaphors.”
― R. Kelly
“I have always been infatuated with country music. Country music tells stories, and I’ve always loved to tell stories. I said that when I establish myself as an artist that can do pretty much anything I want to do in music, I’m going to make a country album.”
― R. Kelly
“My music has shaken hands with the world somehow – it’s a beautiful disease, and I’m glad I got it.”
― R. Kelly
“When I first came in the business, I had a couple of close calls on planes going to London for shows. There was one time where the plane had to fly around until a storm ended, and then we started having a question about fuel, so we had to go through the storm. It was the worst thing that ever happened in my life. That really messed me up.”
― R. Kelly
“I’ve really been writing a lot of country songs. I used to get criticized for doing a ‘Bump & Grind,’ then turning around and doing a gospel song. But the truth is I’m glad I have a gift that allows me to switch lanes.”
― R. Kelly
“When I think of musical geniuses, I think of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and Prince. That’s who comes to mind.”
― R. Kelly
“There was a time I desperately needed for the world to know that I was no category guy. My whole goal in life was to reach that certain success where people will say, ‘Hey, that guy can do anything. He’s the Evel Knievel of music. He’s jumping over 15 buses!’”
― R. Kelly
“My mother always told me if you write about life, you will always be in the game. Just don’t write songs… write life. I decided to take her up on that.”
― R. Kelly
“I look at my music in the beginning, and the sexual songs, the partying songs, those are the realities because those things happen.”
― R. Kelly
“R. Kelly is an image, a brand. That’s my job. There’s a whole other side of me that’s Robert, who is a father, a friend. But then I put on the game face and go into the studio and do the music. That’s just another day at the office.”
― R. Kelly
“I like to give people more than their money’s worth.”
― R. Kelly
“Music is very powerful and can make you feel whatever it is. If you listen to gospel, you’re going to feel thankful, and you’re going to want to call up people that you hate and tell them that you love them. When you listen to sexual music, it gets you in the mood.”
― R. Kelly
“In my life, I wanted to feel tall. I wanted to be somebody. I wanted to be tall as the Sears Tower. I wanted to be on top of the Sears Tower. I wanted to be as strong as the Sears Tower feels.”
― R. Kelly
“I’m not an A student; I’m not even a B student, but I’ve gotten a lot better with the reading because of texts. And I can voice-text and say whatever I want to people.”
― R. Kelly
“If I could change anything, I would definitely have had a father around. My father. I would definitely say it affected me deeply as a young man, coming up. Who doesn’t want a father? Those are the beginnings, and those are what can dictate the roads you choose in life, and choosing them well.”
― R. Kelly
“You can’t satisfy everybody. I will continue to do my job until I get fired, and the only people who can fire me are my fans.”
― R. Kelly
“I’m a man that believes what I see, and everywhere I go… and everywhere I’ve been… I get nothing but love.”
― R. Kelly
“I have fans, and I have family that love me, and I have my music, and I have my breath going in and out.”
― R. Kelly
“Everywhere I go, from malls to restaurants to sold-out tours overseas and back, everywhere I’ve been, I get nothing but love.”
― R. Kelly
“Nobody knows 100% what affects the human body, mind or spirit.”
― R. Kelly
“’Love Letter’ is a concept album, and whenever I do a concept album – and I love doing concept albums more than any other kind of album – it allows me to get dressed, in a way, musically.”
― R. Kelly
“To make an album like ‘Love Letter,’ everything’s got to be about love. Everything has to have a great feeling when you listen to it.”
― R. Kelly
“I have to say, it was fun doing this ‘Love Letter’ album because, hey, man, love has never failed. It has won every battle. And today and forevermore, it will go on undefeated. I’m also a very loving person.”
― R. Kelly
“Always believe what you see – with your own eyes, that is. Always believe what you see. That’s the best way to go about this business. I’ve heard a lot of things about a lot of people, and it was never true.”
― R. Kelly
“I’m not gonna be broke, like my mom was broke, my uncles were broke, my sisters didn’t have money, my cousins on down.”
― R. Kelly
“I want to be able to be a father to my kids, where I’ve never seen my father, but my kids can see me whenever they want, so that was broken.”
― R. Kelly
“I started calling myself the Pied Piper, when I started using the flute sound in my music.”
― R. Kelly
“I’ve called myself the Pied Piper, I’ve called myself the Weatherman, I’ve called myself Kellz, I’ve called myself a lot of things, changing the name, switching it up, just flipping, remixing. But never to harm anybody. Never to make a deep statement for people to dig into and figure it out.”
― R. Kelly
“I have always been infatuated with country music.”
― R. Kelly
“I said that when I establish myself as an artist that can do pretty much anything I want to do in music, I’m going to make a country album.”
― R. Kelly
“I’ve always wanted to write movies – I always used to tell my mom that I wanted to be a director.”
― R. Kelly
“I couldn’t believe I was working with Michael Jackson. I thought, growing up as a kid, I thought Michael was a cartoon.”
― R. Kelly
“You save money so your kids can go to college – no matter what they are or who they are. They’re your kids; you gotta support them.”
― R. Kelly
“I have three lovely, lovely kids that I am in love with and that’s in love with me.”
― R. Kelly
“When I met Michael Jordan on a basketball court at an athletic club – we hooped together in Chicago – he came to me and asked me if I wanted to do a song for his upcoming movie. I was like, ‘Yeah!’ I didn’t even ask what it was.”
― R. Kelly
“When I get into the studio, I write from my heart.”
― R. Kelly
“I try to write life and not songs. People live life, and when you write life, you’re going to mess around and touch somebody’s heart, and they’ll relate to you and what you’re singing about.”
― R. Kelly
“I did ‘Love Letter’ and ‘Write Me Back,’ and those were fun albums for me to do because they took me back to music I love.”
― R. Kelly
“I really don’t chase songs. I get in the studio, I know what I gotta do; I’m pretty much programmed to do it.”
― R. Kelly
“Before I can finish one song, another is knocking on my door in my head.”
― R. Kelly
“I love that I can play around with all types of music.”
― R. Kelly
“I know how to put it into a melody and make it comical but sexual at the same time.”
― R. Kelly
“With my gift, I can pretty much write a song out of anything.”
― R. Kelly
“I don’t have a job, so I sit in the studio all the time and think of stupid stuff to do.”
― R. Kelly
“’Trapped in the Closet’ is pretty much forever. I’ve got a leash on this thing now. I’m going to walk it.”
― R. Kelly
“When you commit to something and have fun with it, it appreciates you, the gift, and it starts to help you out.”
― R. Kelly
“On many different singles, I was able to marry my music with rappers who understood the natural bond between us.”
― R. Kelly
“Biggie was a lyrical genius: he was a musical painter with words. As he rapped, you would see the picture come to life as you heard his story. You hear a lot of rappers rap; you hear a lot of singers sing, but you don’t see the movie in your head the way you do when you hear Biggie rap.”
― R. Kelly
“As with all the other rappers I’ve worked with, Biggie and I shared common ground. Even though Biggie grew up in Brooklyn and I grew up in Chicago, we came from the same ‘hood.”
― R. Kelly
“As a businessman, I saw club tracks as a new franchise that could be profitable for years to come. It was like being in McDonald’s and realizing that even though cheeseburgers and fries sold big, you could also make money serving up McRibs, which are always available for a limited time only.”
― R. Kelly
“My friend, there is no end when it comes to ‘Trapped In The Closet.’”
― R. Kelly
“My mom actually had a band called Six Pack – even though there were seven of them – who went around Chicago performing popular songs. Her voice was like Gladys Knight mixed with Aretha Franklin.”
― R. Kelly
“I started learning everybody’s riffs, from Donny Hathaway to Jeffrey Osborne to James Ingram. That helped me create my own style of singing.”
― R. Kelly
“Downstairs in my house, I have a museum room. I keep all of my awards down there, and childhood photos, and even all the clothes I’ve worn on tour, in videos and on album covers.”
― R. Kelly
“I have Marvin Gaye’s driver’s license. His wife sent it to me, because she really loved my ‘Happy People’ record. She said that she thought it represented the sprit of her husband. The license is from California. I get inspired every time I look at it.”
― R. Kelly
“There are so many songs in me that haven’t been born yet. So I can’t call myself a genius, but I never turn away a compliment, and I feel like I’m on my way to that mountain.”
― R. Kelly
“All the sounds on ‘Trapped in the Closet’ – the knockin’ on the door, when I grab the keys, when I walk down the stairs, the car horns – we sampled all of those things around my house.”
― R. Kelly
“I’m not very good at picking stuff up off the radio. It takes me way too long to learn other people’s music.”
― R. Kelly
“Ronald Isley is a musical genius.”
― R. Kelly
“No matter how much money I make, no matter how many hit songs. I still perform like a street performer.”
― R. Kelly
“I’ve had money thrown onstage, dollars, couple of five-dollar bills. I took the money, but it wasn’t much.”
― R. Kelly
“There’s a time and place for everything. You’re younger, you might want to go to clubs and kick it, but as you get older, you start seeing that life has more meaning to it. The people that you love are the people you want to start trusting and start wanting them to trust you and start respecting them.”
― R. Kelly
“I’ve heard people have written books of me. People don’t even know me, but they’ve written a book on me. You ever heard of hearing it from the horse’s mouth? I’m the horse.”
― R. Kelly
“I used to get criticized for doing a ‘Bump & Grind’ then turning around and doing a gospel song. But the truth is I’m glad I have a gift that allows me to switch lanes.”
― R. Kelly
“My whole goal in life was to reach that certain success where people will say, ‘Hey, that guy can do anything. He’s the Evel Knievel of music. He’s jumping over 15 buses!’”
― R. Kelly
“You don’t see me in the club. And the reason is because I would rather be in the studio mixing these musical potions. Now sometimes they blow up in my face, and there’s a lot of smoke. But that’s who I am. Music is what I do.”
― R. Kelly
“I don’t want to just go out and do song to song to song. I like to create things before the song actually kicks in, little things you do to excite the crowd.”
― R. Kelly
“I had a cyst on my tonsils, and I couldn’t sing. I had to have an operation.”
― R. Kelly
“Being single has its ups and downs, and being in a relationship has its ups and downs. It depends on how you balance it and how you handle your problems within your relationship.”
― R. Kelly
“I walk around every day with a radio playing constantly in my head, and this radio station plays a lot of hits. But it’s all my songs, so that’s something to be excited about 24 hours a day.”
― R. Kelly
“I don’t want fans mad at me, so I gotta give them what they expect and what they want.”
― R. Kelly
“I love blues. My grandfather did blues.”
― R. Kelly
“I started to wear the sunglasses all the time at school, hiding behind them… I’d walk down the hallways, practically hugging the wall, dragging my head against it like I was crazy.”
― R. Kelly
“When you go to church, if the pastor at some point doesn’t make you laugh, he probably ain’t gonna make you join.”
― R. Kelly
“I just never, in my career, got into doing a lot of press.”
― R. Kelly
“Sometimes I feel like music has made love to me.”
― R. Kelly
“I feel that I am pregnant by music, and it is the father and mother of my child.”
― R. Kelly
“’The Notebook’ was beautiful, and I was crying because its hero and heroine had died together.”
― R. Kelly
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