R. Kelly

My mother always told me if you write about life, you will always be in the game. Just don't write songs... write life. I decided to take her up on that.

I look at my music in the beginning, and the sexual songs, the partying songs, those are the realities because those things happen.

R. Kelly is an image, a brand. That's my job. There's a whole other side of me that's Robert, who is a father, a friend. But then I put on the game face and go into the studio and do the music. That's just another day at the office.

I've been blackmailed a billion times. I've been sued for ridiculous things. At one point in my life, I was an ATM machine. But I'm used to that. You don't get used to it, but I'm used to the fact that people will do this, even your own family members, and I don't hate none of them.

I like to give people more than their money's worth.

I've always had mostly women come out to see me perform. That's the reason the guys show up; they know R. Kelly is going to draw the women. Most of the songs I'm singing are catering to women anyway.

Music is very powerful and can make you feel whatever it is. If you listen to gospel, you're going to feel thankful, and you're going to want to call up people that you hate and tell them that you love them. When you listen to sexual music, it gets you in the mood.

When you hear romantic music, it makes you want to take your girl out to dinner or buy her something or take her out in the moonlight or take her on a walk.

In my life, I wanted to feel tall. I wanted to be somebody. I wanted to be tall as the Sears Tower. I wanted to be on top of the Sears Tower. I wanted to be as strong as the Sears Tower feels.

Other kids could read, other kids could write, other kids could spell, they could do math. I felt like an alien. I felt like an outcast. I felt like, 'What is going to happen to me?'

I'm not an A student; I'm not even a B student, but I've gotten a lot better with the reading because of texts. And I can voice-text and say whatever I want to people.

If I could change anything, I would definitely have had a father around. My father. I would definitely say it affected me deeply as a young man, coming up. Who doesn't want a father? Those are the beginnings, and those are what can dictate the roads you choose in life, and choosing them well.

I'm a man that believes what I see, and everywhere I go... and everywhere I've been... I get nothing but love.

When a person is found not guilty, they're found not guilty.

I have fans, and I have family that love me, and I have my music, and I have my breath going in and out.

Nobody knows 100% what affects the human body, mind or spirit.

'Love Letter' is a concept album, and whenever I do a concept album - and I love doing concept albums more than any other kind of album - it allows me to get dressed, in a way, musically.

To make an album like 'Love Letter,' everything's got to be about love. Everything has to have a great feeling when you listen to it.

I have to say, it was fun doing this 'Love Letter' album because, hey, man, love has never failed. It has won every battle. And today and forevermore, it will go on undefeated. I'm also a very loving person.

I gave a Christmas party last year - well, two Christmases ago - where I did a Sam Cooke show. I didn't perform as R. Kelly. I performed the Sam Cooke show from 1964, when he performed at the Copacabana.

I'm not gonna be broke, like my mom was broke, my uncles were broke, my sisters didn't have money, my cousins on down.

I want to be able to be a father to my kids, where I've never seen my father, but my kids can see me whenever they want, so that was broken.

I started calling myself the Pied Piper, when I started using the flute sound in my music.

I don't really know the story of the Pied Piper. I don't read stories, first of all. I just remember either a rabbit or a rat leading people out of the village with a flute. That's all I can tell you.

I've called myself the Pied Piper, I've called myself the Weatherman, I've called myself Kellz, I've called myself a lot of things, changing the name, switching it up, just flipping, remixing. But never to harm anybody. Never to make a deep statement for people to dig into and figure it out.

I have always been infatuated with country music.

Country music tells stories, and I've always loved to tell stories.

I said that when I establish myself as an artist that can do pretty much anything I want to do in music, I'm going to make a country album.

I've always wanted to write movies - I always used to tell my mom that I wanted to be a director.

I couldn't believe I was working with Michael Jackson. I thought, growing up as a kid, I thought Michael was a cartoon.

You don't want R&B singers to get into beef. Leave that to the rappers, let them do that - R&B, be classy.

You save money so your kids can go to college - no matter what they are or who they are. They're your kids; you gotta support them.

I have three lovely, lovely kids that I am in love with and that's in love with me.

When I met Michael Jordan on a basketball court at an athletic club - we hooped together in Chicago - he came to me and asked me if I wanted to do a song for his upcoming movie. I was like, 'Yeah!' I didn't even ask what it was.

When I get into the studio, I write from my heart.

I try to write life and not songs. People live life, and when you write life, you're going to mess around and touch somebody's heart, and they'll relate to you and what you're singing about.

I did 'Love Letter' and 'Write Me Back,' and those were fun albums for me to do because they took me back to music I love.

Fans can never accuse R. Kelly of doing the same thing; I keep mixing it up.

I really don't chase songs. I get in the studio, I know what I gotta do; I'm pretty much programmed to do it.

Before I can finish one song, another is knocking on my door in my head.

I love that I can play around with all types of music.

I know how to put it into a melody and make it comical but sexual at the same time.

With my gift, I can pretty much write a song out of anything.

I don't have a job, so I sit in the studio all the time and think of stupid stuff to do.

'Trapped in the Closet' is pretty much forever. I've got a leash on this thing now. I'm going to walk it.

When you commit to something and have fun with it, it appreciates you, the gift, and it starts to help you out.

On many different singles, I was able to marry my music with rappers who understood the natural bond between us.

Biggie was a lyrical genius: he was a musical painter with words. As he rapped, you would see the picture come to life as you heard his story. You hear a lot of rappers rap; you hear a lot of singers sing, but you don't see the movie in your head the way you do when you hear Biggie rap.

As with all the other rappers I've worked with, Biggie and I shared common ground. Even though Biggie grew up in Brooklyn and I grew up in Chicago, we came from the same 'hood.

As a businessman, I saw club tracks as a new franchise that could be profitable for years to come. It was like being in McDonald's and realizing that even though cheeseburgers and fries sold big, you could also make money serving up McRibs, which are always available for a limited time only.