Soulless

June 7, 2019

Music journalist DeRogatis (Let It Blurt; Turn on Your Mind) describes his nearly two-decade investigation into R&B singer R. Kelly's physical, mental, and sexual abuse of up to 48 girls and women. Growing up in Chicago, Kelly was sexually abused by his half-sister and an unknown man as a child. Since the early 1990s, he preyed on underage girls with the allure of breaking into the music industry. He hid this sexual abuse by paying off victims and making them sign nondisclosure agreements. Kelly made videotapes of his sexual encounters as trophies, including one with a 14-year-old girl, which made its way to DeRogatis. Kelly is portrayed as a cultlike figure who demanded total control over women, including what they wore and when they went to the bathroom. DeRogatis recounts the singer's marriage to his 15-year-old protege Aaliyah and the 2008 trial that led to Kelly's acquittal. DeRogatis lays some blame on law enforcement, the music industry, lawyers, and parents for failing to protect these girls. VERDICT Individuals who have experienced abuse may want to avoid this book entirely. For readers interested in the cult of celebrity, the life of R. Kelly, true crime, journalism, and the #MeToo movement.--Chris Wilkes, Tazewell Cty. P.L., VA

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 8, 2019
Singer R. Kelly’s alleged relationships with underage girls are examined in this exhaustive exposé by former Chicago Sun-Times journalist DeRogatis (Let It Blurt). DeRogatis spent nearly two decades interviewing Kelly’s family members and former business associates, law enforcement officials, and many of the singer’s alleged victims, and here he chronicles how Kelly, born into a poor, sexually dysfunctional family and virtually illiterate, rose to be one of his generation’s most successful pop music stars. He also allegedly had a series of sexual encounters with minors. Without getting bogged down in minutiae, DeRogatis covers Kelly’s annulled marriage to the young singer Aaliyah, an unsuccessful 2008 child pornography case against him, and the numerous allegations of Kelly holding several women against their will in cultlike fashion, paying them off with out-of-court settlements that required signing nondisclosure agreements. Throughout this riveting story, DeRogatis keeps a sympathetic focus on Kelly’s accusers: “It must feel liberating for these women, after years of keeping their hurt feelings bottled up, to finally have the support of a sympathetic audience,” he writes. In addition, he extends the blame for Kelly’s misbehavior to “the employees of record labels, recording studios, radio stations, video outlets, magazines, websites, and newspapers.” DeRogatis captivates in this expertly told narrative.

Starred review from June 1, 2019
For DeRogatis, then a music critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, it all started in November 2000 when he received an anonymous one-page, single-spaced letter that flatly stated, Robert's problem . . . is young girls, referring to music superstar R. Kelly. Initially, he didn't put too much credence in it (rumors had been surfacing for years). But then, along with Sun-Times legal affairs reporter Abdon Pallasch, he began to dig. The two journalists scoured police and court records, working 16-hour days and weekends while still covering their regular assignments. By doing so, they painstakingly and methodically made the case against Kelly. Four weeks or so after receiving the anonymous tip, their article appeared, only to be largely dismissed, ignored, or forgotten. Critics gave Kelly a free pass, while many others paid lip service to the charges against him, writes DeRogatis. Kelly was indicted in 2002 for child pornography, then acquitted in 2008. It would be almost two decades before the world would recognize the predator in its midst, and before real justice would be served. Finally, in February 2019, Kelly was indicted on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The indefatigable and fearless DeRogatis has written a brave and important book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)