R Kelly might have taken the saying “short and sweet” a little too literally when his first post-jail performance lasted for less than 30 seconds. Springfield, Illinois’ local news stations WICS and WRSP reported that after being scheduled to perform at midnight, R Kelly showed up at the Dirty South Lounge at 1:30 am. He then spent over a half an hour socializing with fans and eventually took the stage and sang the first line from his song “Bump n Grind”.
The tickets for the show went for $100 with only 150 people in the audience in a club that seats 450. Some of the audience members were interviewed after the show and said that although they tried to view the music as separate from the artist, they were disappointed by such a short show.
R Kelly had posted a video on Instagram a few hours before the show in which he explained that he now has to play at small clubs to make a living. He said: “I got an event to do tonight in Springfield, Illinois, so I want the media to take it easy on me, man. This is how I gotta get paid now. So, I gotta go do this event and it’s a party. So, when you see me in the club with a couple of drinks in my hand and chilling, please take it easy.” He was paid $22,000 for this “performance”.
For the record, I think R Kelly spent a little too much time “chilling” and not enough “doing the event”. I’m also surprised that even one venue agreed to book him.
Let me know what you think about R Kelly’s most recent performance in the comment section!