Poate ar trebui spus DOAR că R. Kelly este cel ce a compus piesa "You Are Not Alone", cântec care, repet, a fost primul single din istorie care a intrat direct pe locul I în Billboard top 100 şi ar fi de ajuns. Aş mai putea adăuga că este una dintre piesele emblematice ale lui Michael Jackson - şi, dacă nu greşesc, e pe locul I în topul preferinţelor fanilor români. Toate astea ar da definiţia corectă dar nu completă despre R. Kelly care, dincolo de toate realizările sale, continuă să-l omagieze pe Michael Jackson. Pentru că datorită acestuia, spune Kelly, el este acum "în peisaj" ("in the game", ca să respectăm englişmăneasca).
Cry (2001)Toate piesele semnate de Kelly şi cântate de Michael Jackson pe care le ştim (căci ne putem gândi, evident, la multe nelansate) sunt hituri. Într-unul din filmele omagiale difuzate în vara/toamna acestui an de MTV, R. Kelly povestea cum i-a trimis lui Michael Jackson un demo cu piesa "One More Chance" (a treia cu acest titlu din repertoriul lui Jackson) în care, povesteşte el, îşi "făcuse" vocea cât mai asemănătoare cu a idolului său - pentru că ţinea morţiş ca acesta să o accepte. N-a greşit.
One More Chance (2003)
Aflat în turneul de promovare a noului său disc, Untitled, R. Kelly n-a pierdut prilejul de a-l omagia, din nou, pe Michael Jackson. În plin spectacol, el difuzează filmul următor, pe care l-am şi găsit pe You Tube:
De asemenea, el face acelaşi lucru şi într-un articol publicat de www.mtv.com: R. Kelly Talks About His In-Concert Michael Jackson Tribute, articol scris de Shaheem Reed.
De asemenea, el face acelaşi lucru şi într-un articol publicat de www.mtv.com: R. Kelly Talks About His In-Concert Michael Jackson Tribute, articol scris de Shaheem Reed.
Iată un fragment din acest articol:
Nu mă pricep prea mult la ceea ce se cheamă muzica lui Kelly interpretată de el însuşi (promit să recuperez), dar muzica din filmuleţul de pe You Tube pare a fi alta decât Ignition-ul original. Oricum, băgăm de seamă că e pusă peste... Bănuiesc că ceea ce e mai jos e piesa despre care Michael Jackson a spus că e încântat... (clipul în sine nu are embedul accesibil, aşa că... asta avem, asta punem; cum ar veni, monseur scri'm, monseur şitim):"Michael Jackson being gone is like our breath, our musical breath, being taken away," Kelly says in his videotaped message. "But I'm not gonna let him die."
Then home-movie footage of Jackson and director Brett Ratner dancing in a vehicle to the sounds of Kells' "Ignition" appears on the screen. R. told us that the King of Pop wanted a song like it of his very own.
"Michael told me one day, he said, 'I wanna know if you can write a song like "Ignition" for me — I love that song,' " Kelly explained. "I was like, 'Mike, man, "Ignition" is not a "Thriller," but much like "Thriller," those type of songs will probably never happen [again]. It'll never happen again. I'm sorry.' "
But Kelly was extremely humbled when he saw Jackson dancing to "Ignition" and felt compelled to put the footage in his show.
"I cried the first time I saw him on YouTube, and I couldn't believe he was in the backseat of the car. He was jamming [to my song]," he said. "You can tell he was into it. He was feeling it. It was like, 'Wow, he's doing my music. He's singing to my music.' It was unbelievable. I knew I made it when I saw that. You can sing songs forever. I've written a lot of songs, and they went around the world. I've won all types of awards, but let me tell y'all something — nothing, nothing told me, I didn't know I made it until I saw Michael Jackson in the back of that car performing and dancing to my song 'Ignition.' That's when it became official. I've been in the game 20 years, but that's when it became official to me that Kells is here, baby, for real."
The video homage to Jackson segues into a montage of Michael's performances and videos. Kelly sings, "Don't say goodbye to me/ There is no need to/ Don't say goodbye to me, because I'm still with you/ Don't say goodbye to me, don't shed a tear/ Because I'm still here/ Go light a candle and say a prayer/ Scream out victory, 'cause love is still there."
"I do dedicate a segment of the show to Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson is one of the biggest reasons R. Kelly is in the game right now. It's amazing," he explained.
Ignition (2003)
