R Kelly is a household name in the American showbiz industry.
Those of us who were teenagers and young adults in the 90s can sing some of his songs word for word.
Tunes such as “You Saved Me” and “I Believe I Can Fly” are massive hits to date.
The singer and producer dominated the RnB industry in the early 21st century winning awards and amassing fans in his wake.
Unfortunately, R Kelly’s musical prowess has been overshadowed by his array of legal suits.
Many of the accusations centered on sexual abuse, especially towards teenage girls.
He was also found guilty of sex trafficking, child pornography, and racketeering.
In 2020, the RnB singer was jailed for 30 years.
Once, R Kelly didn’t attend his court hearing. To explain the matter, his lawyers claimed that he didn’t turn up because he couldn’t read and write.
Expectedly, this puzzled many. After writing many successful tunes for himself and other successful artists, is it possible that R Kelly is unable to read and write?
Let’s investigate.
The Genesis Of The Allegations
Besides R Kelly’s lawyers playing the illiteracy card in court to defend their client, the once-successful musician admitted to being unable to read, write, and add numbers to one Wendy Williams.
During one of her talk shows in 2018, Williams told her co-hosts that the R ‘n’ B singer admitted to her that he was essentially illiterate.
The talk show host said amid tears that Kelly had spoken to her in private about his inability to read, write, and add.
This was her statement:
“He can’t write, he can’t read. And he cannot add numbers… and I won’t reveal to you what he said about how he navigates the world and stuff like that.”
R Kelly’s legal team cited illiteracy as his reason for not showing up to court as had been requested of him.
Expectedly, the news of the singer’s illiteracy aroused a lot of doubt, emotion, and questions.
How can a man, who has 14 music albums under his belt – most of which he wrote himself be unable to read and write?
How could he have written successful tunes such as “I Look to You” by Whitney Houston and “You Are Not Alone” by Michael Jackson be illiterate?
Can R Kelly Read and Write?
According to reliable sources, R Kelly is indeed unable to read and write.
Turns out the “You Saved Me” singer was diagnosed with dyslexia during his high school years.
The condition left him with an inability to read and write.
After attending Kenwood Academy for one year, the singer dropped out of school to pursue a career in music. That was pretty much the last time the singer stepped into a classroom.
Dyslexia is pretty serious. It is especially challenging for young children and teens as it may affect the brain’s ability to process information.
Most people suffer from reading and writing skills often causing difficulty reading or reading aloud.
Generally, the condition causes slow and labor-intensive reading.
In rare cases, it may trigger an inability to read and write, which could be the case for R Kelly.
By his own admission in 2009, the embattled singer mentioned to the Boombox website that he cannot read.
“I don’t really read and I am not ashamed to say that.” He said. “My brothers and cousins would constantly tease me saying that if I didn’t read rights, I wouldn’t come up in life. The only reason I finished and graduated from grammar school is that I had a good jump shot. I attended high school and one of my teachers said to me, “You will be one of the best writers of all time.” I didn’t doubt it.”
In 2019, R Kelly, who is behind bars claimed that he was miserable since he cannot read and respond to mails from his fans.
The A-lister, through his long-time lawyer, Steve Greenberg, spoke about his miserable life in prison.
Besides the fact that he cannot read fan mail, Kelly is also in solitary confinement – a choice he made because he was afraid that his life was in danger.
His lawyer claims that the cell he’s occupying has no television, radio, music, or books.
All he has is a Bible which he cannot read. It’s there for comfort only.
As to whether R Kelly is saying the truth about his illiteracy or not is yet to be established.
No public tests have been done on him to ascertain whether he’s actually unable to read and write.
All we can do is go by are his claims—all of which haven’t been proved in any way.
Conclusion
The 90s was such a great decade for one Robert Kelly aka R Kelly.
He was literally on top of every billboard chart with some of his songs staying in number one for months and even years at a time.
Sadly, the singer went down when he was charged with several counts of sexual abuse and child pornography charges.
His inability to read and write shocked fans just as much as his sex charges did.
It is quite inconceivable to imagine the success he’s garnered despite being illiterate.
