'The Notebook' was beautiful, and I was crying because its hero and heroine had died together.
— R. Kelly
I just never, in my career, got into doing a lot of press.
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.
I love blues. My grandfather did blues.
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.
I've done a lot of things that I regret.
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!'
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 is a thing on TV, but nobody knows Robert and what he's been through.
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.
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.
My friend, there is no end when it comes to 'Trapped In The Closet.'
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.
On many different singles, I was able to marry my music with rappers who understood the natural bond between us.
I don't have a job, so I sit in the studio all the time and think of stupid stuff to do.
I know how to put it into a melody and make it comical but sexual at the same time.
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.
I feel that I am pregnant by music, and it is the father and mother of my child.
When you go to church, if the pastor at some point doesn't make you laugh, he probably ain't gonna make you join.
I believe the people that buy my music believes in me.
I don't want fans mad at me, so I gotta give them what they expect and what they want.
I had a cyst on my tonsils, and I couldn't sing. I had to have an operation.
I'm no angel, but I'm no monster, either.
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.
I've had money thrown onstage, dollars, couple of five-dollar bills. I took the money, but it wasn't much.
Ronald Isley is a musical genius.
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.
I started learning everybody's riffs, from Donny Hathaway to Jeffrey Osborne to James Ingram. That helped me create my own style of singing.
'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.
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.
When you commit to something and have fun with it, it appreciates you, the gift, and it starts to help you out.
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.
I love that I can play around with all types of music.
Fans can never accuse R. Kelly of doing the same thing; I keep mixing it up.
Sometimes I feel like music has made love to me.
I like to laugh and make people have fun.
I know that I'm not a criminal. People say that, but my music speaks for itself. And I believe in my music.
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.
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.
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.
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.
No matter how much money I make, no matter how many hit songs. I still perform like a street performer.
I'm not very good at picking stuff up off the radio. It takes me way too long to learn other people's music.
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.
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.
To hear the appreciation, the screams - that's what any of us need. We're at our best when we're wanted.
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.
'Trapped in the Closet' is pretty much forever. I've got a leash on this thing now. I'm going to walk it.
With my gift, I can pretty much write a song out of anything.
Before I can finish one song, another is knocking on my door in my head.
