Chicago R&B superstar R. Kelly has done it again.Just when it seemed as
if "Trapped in the Closet," his ever-expanding, sex-obsessed "ghetto soap
opera," couldn't get any stranger, Kelly has released a DVD of the first 12
chapters of the epic, including seven new installments available only on
video.
The weirdest of the new twists and turns involves a white Southern woman
cheating on her African-American husband with an African-American midget who
defecates in his pants when the cuckolded spouse, a city police officer,
pulls his gun.
As in the past, Kelly sings the roles of all the characters himself with
an impressive show of vocal bravura. Different actors lip-sync in the video,
while Kelly plays the role of one cheating "player" (Sylvester) and the
narrator.
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'Boondocks'
delivers verdict in star's case
BY
JIM DEROGATIS Pop Music
Critic
Three years
after he was indicted on child pornography, R. Kelly is still
waiting for his day in court on charges that could put him in jail
for 15 years.
But in an
episode of the satirical animated series "The Boondocks" airing at
10 p.m. today, the R&B superstar is finally acquitted.
As Kelly's
supporters dance in the courtroom, the show's 10-year-old star
chastises the jury. "You wanna help R. Kelly?" former Chicagoan Huey
asks. "Then get some counseling for R. Kelly. Don't pretend the man
is a hero."
The brainchild
of African-American cartoonist Aaron McGruder, "The Boondocks" plays
hot-button issues of race for laughs.
Kelly, who is
drawn wearing the bandit's mask he sported at the Grammys last
February, is prosecuted by a black D.A. aghast that the singer, as
"The Boondocks" depicts it, videotaped himself urinating on a
14-year-old black girl. He is defended by a white lawyer -- a
caricature of radical defense attorney William Kunstler -- who does
not hesitate to play the race card.
After noting
that Kelly won an NAACP Image Award, the defense attorney claims
"the system" is afraid of the singer.
"They're afraid
because they see the power for good this man wields through his
music. They don't want R. Kelly to be free because they don't want
you to be free. Maybe R. Kelly did urinate on this woman, but
America urinated on R. Kelly."
www.jimdero.com; www.sound opinions.com |
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Kelly launched the first five video chapters of "Trapped in the Closet"
with considerable fanfare on MTV, VH1 and BET in July. Many reviewers
praised his ambition and the nearly unprecedented song structure of the
complicated operetta.
The New York Times called it a "tour de force," while Blender magazine
branded it "a brilliant triumph." But the saga has done little to generate
record sales.
Promises 10 more chapters
Eighteen weeks after its release, Kelly's last album "TP.3 Reloaded,"
which includes the audio tracks of chapters 1-5, is only certified as
platinum, with sales of 1 million. In comparison, fellow Chicagoan Kanye
West has sold 2 million copies of his new album in 10 weeks.
Some music industry observers say "Trapped in the Closet" is a novelty
whose appeal is quickly wearing thin. But Kelly says he has written another
10 chapters and intends to keep going.
The producer and co-director of the first 12 video chapters, Ann Carli
and Jim Swaffield, are considering whether the saga will continue on DVD or
as a feature film.
"This is a different kind of song, and we knew that it needed a different
approach," Swaffield said. "We approached it more like filmmakers than video
makers."
Swaffield, who has worked on videos for Britney Spears, A Tribe Called
Quest and others, shares directing credit with Kelly. The musician conveyed
the story and his vision for the project by singing and acting it out in the
Chocolate Factory recording studio in the basement of his Olympia Fields
mansion.
The filmmaker said "Trapped in the Closet" is primarily an attempt at
soap opera-like storytelling, with drama, intrigue and comedy. But he added
that the videos also have a deeper meaning.
"Obviously, this is told in a hyperbolic, more soap-opera-y way,"
Swaffield said. "But the gist of it is that everyone has their things in the
closet lurking behind [them].
Real-life soap opera, too
Fans will no doubt examine the epic for clues about Kelly's troubled
personal life. In one revealing new scene, Kelly as Sylvester and the woman
who plays his wife laugh about their respective acts of adultery, indicating
that they tolerate cheating on one another.
Kelly's real-life marriage made news in September when his wife and three
children moved out of their home. Charging that the singer had slapped her,
Andrea Kelly obtained a restraining order against her husband from a Cook
County judge.
A few weeks later, Andrea Kelly dropped the restraining order, and her
divorce attorney told the Sun-Times the couple is "trying to work out their
marital problems rather than proceeding in domestic violence court."
The Sun-Times also has reported that R. Kelly has used his fame and
influence as a pop star to have sexual relationships with underage girls. In
June 2002, he was indicted on charges of child pornography after the
newspaper received a videotape that appears to show him having sex with a
14-year-old girl. No trial date has been set.
Swaffield said the charges did not seem to affect the star while working
on "Trapped in the Closet." The director added that he had no qualms about
working with Kelly while the trial is pending.
'Going through my own struggle'
"I really felt like I'd been given a rare opportunity to work with
someone who was gifted, driven and prolific on a project that he truly loved
and was doing out of sheer excitement and love," Swaffield said.
During a recent interview with the Associated Press in which he discussed
his contributions to several recordings benefitting victims of Hurricane
Katrina, Kelly maintained his innocence and said the charges continue to
weigh heavily on him.
"I'm going through my own struggle, my own hurricane in a way," Kelly
said. "I believe in overcoming, and if I can do it, I wanna be that light so
people can see me and feel they can be inspired and say, 'You know, R. Kelly
can get through this, I can get through this, so we can actually go through
this together.' "
Contributing: Abdon M. Pallasch, Associated Press
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