During a recent episode of the Club Shay Shay podcast, Timbaland told host Shannon Sharpe that, despite R Kelly‘s history as a sex trafficker, the 51-year-old producer believes Kelly was still “the king of R&B”.
Born Timothy Zachery Mosley, Timbaland stated “R Kelly’s the king of R&B. We all know that man.” “And it’s funny… everybody jump when you say R Kelly. I’m like, so we just gonna ignore the music that he gave us, that we all jam to?”
The superstar producer who’s collaborated with the likes of Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, and others, urged podcast listeners to separate art from the artist, saying “His art is his art; I ain’t going to bash the man’s art.” “Don’t mix music up with personal… Don’t bring drama into music. Leave that outside.”
In 2022, R Kelly was sentenced by a jury of his peers to 31 years in prison over sex trafficking charges after the Lifetime documentary Surviving R Kelly brought his crimes to light.
In 2021, the legendary singer/songwriter (born Robert Sylvester Kelly) was banned from using or creating YouTube channels, with the Google-owned platform also shutting down his previous RKellyVevo and RKellyTV accounts. However, his songs have remained on Spotify and Apple Music.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Collision Conf