R. Kelly addresses sexual misconduct and Aaliyah in a new 19-minute song

‘I Admit’ is a defence of rapper’s behaviour, calling out his ‘haters’ R. Kelly’s new song is structured as a confessional.

In a 19-minute-long song released Monday, R&B singer R. Kelly addresses several topics that have dogged him for years, including sexual misconduct allegations against him, his illegal marriage with a then-15-yearold Aaliyah and parents who have accused Kelly of brainwashing their daughter as part of a sex “cult.”

“Today is the day you’ve been waiting for,” Kelly tweeted, with a link to the song on Sound-Cloud titled “I Admit.”

Structured as a confessional, the song is more of a defence of his behaviours and accusations against him. In one line, he sings, “I admit I’m a freak” who used to go to the strip club weekly and messed with “all the ladies, that’s both older and younger ladies. But tell me how they call it pedophile, because that” is crazy.

Throughout the track, Kelly accuses “haters” of trying to destroy his career. “You may have your opinions, entitled to your opinions,” he sings. “But really am I supposed to go to jail or lose my career because of your opinion.”

Kelly has been a super-popular singer since the early 1990s, who has also stood accused of abusing women and having sexual relations with underage girls. He has settled several sexual and physical abuse lawsuits, and in 2008 he was acquitted of child pornography. The alleged victim and her parents declined to testify during the high-profile trial.

The years of settlements and other allegations received new attention after journalist Jim DeRogatis — who has chronicled Kelly’s alleged behaviour for years — published a 2017 BuzzFeed story in which former girlfriends and others painted a portrait of a celebrity who controls the movements and lives of a group of live-in sexual partners. The parents of one of the girlfriends, who has said she is doing fine, told police their daughter is being held against her will and is a part of a “cult.”

Kelly has long denied the allegations. “We deny the many dark descriptions put forth by instigators and liars who have their own agenda for seeking profit and fame,” his management said in a statement in May.

In his new song, Kelly addresses the growing backlash against him, citing DeRogatis directly: “To Jim DeRogatis, whatever your name is/ You been tryna destroy me for 25 whole years,” he sings. “... Off my name, you done went and made yourself a career/ But guess what? I pray for you and your family, and all my other enemies.”

He says he had a conversation with Wendy Williams that alluded to his illegal marriage with singer Aaliyah, when he was 27 and she was 15 (her parents quickly discovered the union and eventually had it expunged):

“She said ‘What about Aaliyah?’ “I said, ‘love’ ” Kelly says the allegations of brainwashing, kidnapping and not letting his entourage of sexual partners eat and move about freely are “absurd” and “silly.”

Throughout the song, Kelly also sings about being broke, not owning the rights to his music, his struggles with literacy and being sexually abused as a child.

“I never thought it would come to this, to be the most disrespected artist,” he sings. “So I had to write a song about this, ’cause they always take my words and twist it.”