king of r&b Archives - New Hip Hop News

Timbaland just caught a lot of heat online for proclaiming that R. Kelly, convicted sex offender, is “the King of R&B.” Moreover, the producer made such comments during his conversation with Shannon Sharpe on the latter’s Club Shay Shay podcast, where they also broached Timbo’s struggles with addiction. However, his praise of the disgraced R&B star didn’t come without its caveats, as he acknowledged that it was a loaded subject that people quickly bash on. Still, he maintained the importance of separating the art from the artist when it comes to their greatness and impact, and Sharpe was actually the first to do so in the conversation. Many fans expressed disappointment and anger with this take, especially considering that the Virginia native produced for one of Kelly’s victims, Aaliyah.

“R. Kelly’s the king of R&B,” Timbaland stated. “We all know that, man. And it’s funny, I’m glad you talk about that, because I be having talks- everybody jump when you say R. Kelly. I’m like, ‘So we just gonna ignore his music that he gave us, that we all jam to?’ No, we can’t do that. His art is his art, I ain’t gonna bash the man’s art. Don’t mix music up with personal. Music is a feeling, it stands alone. Music is something that don’t have no race, it brings people together. It don’t have no drama with it. It is a place of enjoyment, a feeling, so don’t bring drama into music. Leave that outside.”

Timbaland & Shannon Sharpe Speak On R. Kelly’s Legacy

Furthermore, the 56-year-old currently serves a 30-year prison sentence stemming from a New York conviction. In addition, authorities convicted him of sex trafficking, child pornography, and other federal and civil charges in Chicago this year. While the Chicago sentence is technically an additional twenty years, only one of those will be added to his total time, as the rest serve concurrently with his New York sentence. Undeniably, his legacy saw a massive and irreversible taint as a result that re-contextualized his entire work under a dark light. Check out reactions to Timbaland’s take below.

Twitter Reacts To The “King Of R&B” Take

Timbaland’s comments regarding R.Kelly aren’t surprising, seeing that he and Kelly shared the same sick obsession over Aaliyah. pic.twitter.com/SLZKz1uCCq

— LEX (@alexisoatman) May 25, 2023

pic.twitter.com/GgIfSEUaKp

— K (@Bredloveee) May 24, 2023

Thanks for joining 1djhelix yeah i forgot that timbaland said he was in love with a young Aaliyah
I feel you can only do one of those things
1. Defend r Kelly
2. Say you had a crush on a teenager you were interacting with
Both aren’t things you should do but the combo whoo https://t.co/ZADn8TNvy0

— Hot Dab Time Machine (@dances) May 25, 2023

Timbaland very likely knew what R Kelly was up to before the law caught up with him. Harvey, R Kelly etc, they were open secrets in the industry. Not surprised. https://t.co/HXlyMHbWji

— Machu Picchu (@OparaBecky) May 25, 2023

Not going to speak too much on the Timbaland/R. Kelly so I don’t overstep but I think people would be willing to accept the “separate the art from the artist” thing if ya’ll actually gave more of a fuck about what the artist in question DID and were more vocal about that.

— Ali Nahdee #WGASolidarity #BoycottTheFlash (@AliNahdee) May 25, 2023

R Kelly’s music wasn’t good enough and his crimes were too disgusting for me to separate the art from the artist.

— Mark (@markalanhair) May 25, 2023

R.Kelly will always be… pic.twitter.com/keE0EnNTDU

— dre (@MotownDR) May 24, 2023

It’s a wrap. R. Kelly wasn’t caught stealing from a store or something small which if that was the case we can separate it from the music. He hurt people. He hurt black women & black girls. It’s really nasty and telling that he wants to separate it from the music.

— to hell in a Moses basket (@neurodismal) May 24, 2023

Regardless of his thoughts on legacy and artistic separation, the case of R. Kelly precedes much of his work in today’s discussions. As such, many out there continue to make sure his crimes are not forgotten in probably the most extreme example of a tarnished musical legacy. Whether that persists for years to come remains to be seen, and whether others will face a similar fate is a mystery. For more news and the latest updates on R. Kelly and Timbaland, stick around on HNHH.

[via]