Thousands of people attend R. Kelly's concert in the BJCCSurabhi Rao - Features Editorfeatures@insideuab.com
R. Kelly’s rescheduled concert brought thousands of people to the BJCC on Friday, Sept. 16.
The renowned hip-hop and R&B artist stopped in Birmingham as a part of his Buffet Tour 2016, showcasing a few of his latest hits with a sprinkle of what people call his “old favorites.”
R. Kelly opened with a few words that had the crowd cheering.
“I’m a grown a— man... come backstage after and f— with me if you want to, come smoke w— if you want to, get drunk if you want to, and come back to my hotel - if you want to” he said.
He followed these words with a rendition to “I’m Loving You Tonight,” drawing out the words, emphasizing his vocals and substituting the word “loving” for “f—g.”
Amongst the primarily middle-aged, African American crowd, there were a few UAB students.
Senior mechanical engineering major James Deloach came to the concert with his girlfriend Channing Haynes, who identified herself as a huge fan of R. Kelly and R&B in general.
As one of the few Caucasians at the event, they made up the minority of the concert audience.
“I don’t feel out of place. Everyone here is here for the music. Even the people sitting next to us are welcoming,” Haynes said.
“R. Kelly’s music doesn’t apply to certain demographics. He’s trying to come into this year, and because of his past he will always be relevant. He has a free pass. He has die-hard fans,” Deloach said. “I like his music but I don’t like him as a person. He has a history of being a pedophile. He married Aaliyah when she was fifteen and he was thirty.”
“Four words to describe R. Kelly would be ‘King of R&B,’” Haynes said.
A graduate student enrolled in the Masters of Science in Health Administration and Masters in Business Administration programs at UAB, Kashondra Smith had a few positive words about the concert.
“I’m a huge fan of R. Kelly. I grew up listening to him, and I came here to hear the old songs,” she said. “I’m glad he got to Birmingham and I can see the way that it has brought our community together. I wish they would do more things like this and I wish UAB were more involved.”
Another student at UAB, Kelsey Maclin, attended the concert because the rescheduling moved the concert off of finals week.
“I have been listening to R. Kelly since I was born. A few of my favorites are Sex Me, Honey Love and Happy People. It was an amazing concert. It was my first time seeing him. I love how he did a lot of crowd interaction. I’ve never seen a star that close. He walked down to the back and sang ‘Born Like The River.’”
“There were two old men up front having a dance battle and that was so cute. Everybody was interacting and friendly,” Maclin said.
