Book Review: Soulless The Case Against R. Kelly by Jim DeRogatis
- Renee Diaz
- Jun 9, 2019
- 6 min read
Disclaimer: Souless: The Case Against R. Kelly is triggering for people who are survivors of sexual abuse/assault. This blog my be triggering as well.
I'm not going to sit here and lie to you about being disgusted by tabloid fodder, because I'm not. I love juicy stories and the ins and outs of celebrity life except when depicted on tv. I don't watch The Kardashians, I've never seen a Real housewives show and I tried to watch Yummy Mummies on Netflix but felt sick to know there are people who act like spoiled brats but are actually full grown adults. I am currently on hiatus from TMZ because I like it too much and gossip is still gossip.
I was listening to NPR the other day and again was hit with the story of celebrity life in the spotlight. It was an interview about a journalist and music critic by the name of Jim DeRogatis, who once worked for the Chicago Sun-Times and Rolling Stone but had just released a book about R. Kelly and his sordid and predatory relationships with underage girls. This journalist has been following up on tips for about 20 years and has been interviewing hurt women, friends and family members of hurt women and basically anyone willing to share or anyone who hadn't sold their right to speak via a non-disclosure agreement. All of this has happened in plain sight of people in R. Kelly's inner circle and DeRogatis and his few journalist friends, have been trying to push this into the spotlight ever since.
When I got home, I looked up the book on my #Hoopla App and realized that the book had been released the same day. I had a lot going on that day, setting up for my husbands birthday dinner the following evening and it was a "read only" book. I'm used to audio books but this intriguing and I figured I'd have all summer to read it. The book starts off slow but picks up pace as interview after interview and tape after tape begins to pile up. If you live in Chicago or know anything about R. Kelly, most of his music is over sexualized R&B with a few hopeful tunes like "I believe I can fly" which, to it's credit, is still a pretty good song if you grew up watching Space Jam and listening to B96 in the 90's. It just so happens to be in my head at the moment and it hurts my heart to listen to it. So I won't.
I didn't know much about R. Kelly's background except that he is from Chicago. The book gives little detail about the past except a few references to his family, some sexual abuse he suffered as a child, his inability to read and his weird infatuation with his mother. DeRogatis does a great job of offering facts as he paints a picture of R. Kelly's life and how those little breadcrumbs he drops throughout the pages become this predatory mastermind. Facts about R. Kelly and his victims are shared with a kind of narration that reminds me of a music article. It breaks down how almost everyone around R. Kelly is in love with his music genius, is legally bound and can't speak, or can separate the art from the artist. With a career that has been built steadily with the help of big name artist over the years it seems only fitting that R. Kelly has gotten away with what he has because of his talents. The people who worked with him or write about his music artistry like to fetishize him without realizing that it's YOUNG GIRLS that are part of the fetish and that makes him a pedophile. DeRogatis touched on the fact that people love R. Kelly so much that they can disregard anything he hasn't been convicted of. I am so disgusted by what R. Kelly has done that it's hard to understand why, after a tape with a young girl being raped and abused was shown in court, there was no guilty verdict returned. It was a very long time ago and social media wasn't what it is now. The #MeToo movement wasn't even a glimmer of a thought. Some of the more disturbing parts of the book are the endless accounts of the people who worked with or for R. Kelly that would set him up with young women and turn a blind eye to the ladies who visited him or had sex with him at his studio, home or tour bus. A whole lot was built on lies and DeRogatis shared what most parent's or young survivors would mimic in conversations during interviews. Most thought they would work with him and all thought they had a shot at stardom. And they all said after realizing what he was doing, they felt stupid. They had all been tricked and he was a manipulative abuser who used his talents and power to abuse young girls and later, women. Some women (now) are still in love with him.
DeRogatis made a book after 20 years of investigating a high profile celebrity and pedophile. He endured (in fear sometimes) while people attacked his character or motive and tried like hell to destroy his credibility. He took on the music industry, the media, the court of public opinion, the circuit court of Chicago (when R. Kelly was charged for pedophilia and sexual assault) and an entire group of fans that loved their Chicago hero so much, they'd disregard the victims whom are young black girls and women that nobody seemed to care about. The story is compelling and upsetting. It is from start to finish, a rollercoaster of emotions and stories of sickening torture these young girls endured while they were trapped in a cult like relationship where nobody protected them. This book is journalism and less of a tawdry tale of some star and his sexcapades and scandles. It has a full story and gives answers to any and all questions you may ask along the way, except for who sent that damn fax that started all of this or who placed the tapes in DeRogatis' mailbox. It's a good read. It is written with heart and the journalist who experienced women crying after years of abuse, sets the story and tone in a way that isn't sensationalized or demeaning to the victims and survivors. It also offers a lot of insight of what an victim of abuse goes through emotionally and mentally to survive and what that looks like after they leave.
I really liked this book. It breaks my heart and makes me pray over my children that much more. There is a harsh reality in parenting about how we really don't have control and how we have to relinquish that control to God to care for our children when they are no longer in our sight. This book makes me angry for all the young black girls in the city of Chicago (and elsewhere for that matter) that are overlooked, kidnapped and not receiving the media coverage they deserve and a group of people that most of society, could care less about. I see it on the news all the time. There are so many black women that go missing in Chicago that a simple google search overwhelms me and I can't get a real and true statistic. The book points to 48 women who are on record or are not on record, who have been filmed, interviewed and have been written off in such a way that it only proves the following quote to be true. Jessica Hopper wrote in the village voice about her interview with Jim DeRogatis stating " “The saddest fact I’ve learned is nobody matters less to our society than young black women. Nobody.” " I've seen this online a few times but had no idea where this quote came from. I read the article, some of which sounds familiar after reading the book. It's disheartening but true. This book shows how a broken system has failed these girls and women. It also sheds some light on a future that is now hopeful for these survivors of R. Kelly thanks in no small part to DeRogatis' tenacity and endurance to follow a story that found him and to keep investigating and trying to help bring about a story of a group of women who's lives have been destroyed by their interactions with superstar R. Kelly.
#Derogatis #RKelly #Bookreview #review #hopper #Suntimes #Chicago #Soulless #Book #Bestseller #NPR #Chipub #Hoopla #Chocolatefactory #musiccritic #JimDerogatis #soullessthecaseagainstrkelly #Metoo #Blacklivesmatter #Chicagowestside #Pullman #Blogger #Honestandunbiased #Sexualabuse
Comments