Source: Prince Williams; Scott Legato / Getty
Ne-Yo is speaking out regarding R.Kelly being cancelled after being exposed as a sexual predator.
When he was exposed back in 2018, Ne-Yo posted a “Mute R.Kelly” visual in support of not streaming his music.
“There is NO excuse,” he wrote on Instagram. “Music is important. It really is. But it’s not more important that protecting our children, protecting our little girls. PERIOD. #IHaveADaughter #TF!?? #MUTERKELLY.”
Now, he’s saying he is able to “separate the artist from the art.”
“I don’t give a damn about your personal life,” he told The Independent. “I don’t give a damn about what you’ve done wrong or what you’ve done right. If I like the song and it’s attached to a memory that means something to me, it has nothing to do with [the artist] as a person anymore. It’s what this song means to me.”
The “She Knows” singer added that he doesn’t agree with shunning his music because of the sex crimes he has been convicted and accused of. Whether he’s a sexual predator or not, Ne-Yo said there’s no way you can deny his talent.
“I’ve been in parties where someone will turn on a R. Kelly record, and people will be like ‘Boo!’ That’s bulls***, because you know good and well that before this happened, you’d be rocking out to this song just like everybody else,” he continued. “From time to time, I still listen to R. Kelly music; you just can’t deny the quality. Anybody who tries to say R. Kelly isn’t one of the best songwriters on the face of the planet because of what he did in his personal life, you’re looking at the wrong thing.”
R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison in Brooklyn federal court in June. He was convicted of nine counts of sex trafficking and racketeering in Sept. 2021.
