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Another one of Chicago’s best MC’s spoke on working with R. Kelly in the past, and why he had never spoke out.
Common addressed his thoughts and feelings following the allegations made in the six-episode docuseries Surviving R. Kelly on Lifetime.
“I’m guilty of that too myself because I didn’t stop and be like, ‘Yo,’ and speak against this,” he said to TMZ. “R. Kelly’s from my hometown. At the end of the day, he’s a human being. He has his issues and we see that, but I can’t condone that and I shouldn’t be allowing that to happen. We failed our community as black people.”
He later continued.
“We failed as a community because we knew these things were happening,” he said. “And instead of trying to be like, ‘Yo. Let’s go and try to resolve this situation and free these young ladies and stop this thing that’s going on,’ we were just like, ‘Man, we rocking to the music.’”
This continues the trend of artists and celebrities reacting following the airing of the series.
R. Kelly’s camp recently released a statement denying some of the comments made during the series, and has threatened to sue in the past.
In a statement to CNN: “The allegations against Mr. Kelly are false, and are being made by individuals known to be dishonest. It is clear these continuing stories are the result of the effort of those with personal agendas who are working in concert to interfere with and damage his career. Mr. Kelly again denies any and all wrong doing and is taking appropriate legal action to protect himself from ongoing defamation.”