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Sizzling Entertainment
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Written by David Tumusiime
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Thursday, 19 November 2009 13:07 |
Play list request: Burn It Up, Ignition (Remix), Snake, Slow Wind, Step in the Name of Love, The Storm Is Over Now, U Saved Me, When a Woman’s Fed Up, If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time, and of course Trapped in the Closet.
Actually we take all day if we were to list all R. Kelly’s biggest hits over the years. Which is why it’s important to send in your play list requests early because this superstar coming to Kampala on January 29 has 19 years of music hits to sift through for your listening pleasure.
It is amazing to realise that R. Kelly has been around since 1990. It’s even more amazing to know that at a time when his fame has probably reached greater heights than it ever has, he will be in Kampala. This dusty, pot-holed Kampala will for once get to host a musician who truly enjoys global superstar status before Nairobi, which before this has scooped us repeatedly.
Perhaps what makes R. Kelly’s ‘I Believe’ concert at Lugogo Cricket Oval a must-not-miss event is that it will be a one-time event. No separate VIP shows, no repeat performances the next day, just this one.
R. Kelly is as big as they come; breathing the same air as Beyonce Knowles, Rihanna and …. Add to that the fact that R. Kelly has written and produced for quite a number of those superstars, his most legendary collaboration though being the late R&B singer Aaliyah.
Legendary because not only did R. Kelly play a pivotal role in making Aaliyah a star with her debut album Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number, he also turned around in 1994 and married his then 15 year old protégé. The marriage would be annulled in February 1995 but it exposed for the first time R. Kelly’s alleged penchant for having relationships with underage girls that in 2002 came close to completely derailing his career and possibly ending it.
As the whole world knows now, R. Kelly fought six years to prevent the infamous videotaping case where it was alleged that R. Kelly had filmed himself engaging in sexual acts with a 14 year old girl. Luckily for him, on June 13, 2008, he was found not guilty of all 14 counts and he could get back to making that music we enjoy so much.
If anything, his numerous legal troubles have seemed to garner Kelly more fan support than ever before. His albums beginning with 2003’s Chocolate Factory, 2004’s Happy People/U Saved Me, down to 2008’s 12 Play - 4th Quarter selling in millions around the world.
Fans and critics could not help but read Kelly battling his personal demons in such inspirational ballads like I Believe I Can I Fly, The Storm Is Over Now, and U Saved Me that showcased yet another side to the singer who first attracted our attention with the sexy Bump n’ Grind and Your Body’s Calling in 1993 from his 12 Play album. It is perhaps this more soulful, gospel sounding Kelly that so many Ugandan music fans enjoy and love the most.
Those inspirational songs probably come from a deep place because Kelly, born January 8, 1967, was raised by a single Baptist mother Joanne. He hardly ever saw his father and such songs like If I Could Turn Back The Hands of Time hack back to those tougher times growing up in Chicago. A father of two daughters and a son, Kelly divorced his wife Andrea Lee in 2006 after 10 years together.
On top of being a respected vocalist widely touted to be the new king of R&B, Kelly can play the piano and keyboard and actually uses them when he is writing his songs. Not that we are likely to see Kelly behind a piano at Lugogo. The wonder is why this show was not taken to Namboole Stadium where there would have been more room because come January 29, the whole of Uganda seems headed to that show.
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