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'm in love with music, and I'm pregnant by it. It's like having twins. Or triplets. Or eight-lets!
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.
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.
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.
I want people to notice my writing abilities are real and that I'm not just stuck in one situation.
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.
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.
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.
Just listen to all this sweet, sweet music. I'm working the music.
Not only did I get an A in music but I got an A in ladies.
'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.
My fans have always loved my metaphors.
If you're gonna tell your life story, you gotta be honest, or don't do it.
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.
I was the highest-paid street performer, probably, in the history of Chicago. I was making like $800 a day.
My greatest competition is, well, me.
You know, I'm no different from a fireman. You got to run into a fire no matter how big the blaze is.
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.
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.
I want America to know that you can't believe everything you hear, and nowadays, you can't believe everything you see.
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.
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.
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.
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.
When I was performing on streets, there was no pressure. People accepted me. They loved me without knowing me.
I am very conscious of who I am as an artist and as an inspirational person.
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.
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.
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.
They say marriage will change you but it didn't change me. Being in love changed me.
