If you weren’t at the Smiling Buddha Bar this past Thursday, you missed something pretty special. A nice guy named Jay organized an evening called I Believe I Can Rhyme. David Topping over at Torontoist wrote about it, and I showed up at the event expecting a simple screening of Trapped in the Closet. I somehow missed the fact that it was an R. Kelly tribute show.
So immediately after screening the first 12 chapters, 12 bands took the stage to each perform one of the chapters. Amazing.
And, with the August 21 release date for the new chapters inching closer, R. Kelly is getting lots of press, mostly around his deal with IFC. A sampling:
Billboard:The new round of “Trapped” videos finds Kelly portraying an old man named Randolph, complete with a pot belly and a fake white beard that nearly falls off mid-scene, as well as a preacher in a gray Jheri-curl wig and garish orange suit. In one of the final chapters, Kelly’s Sylvester character talks business with a “Sopranos”-esque mobster who is eating a giant plate of spaghetti.
Pitchfork: Man, is that water droplet noise ever gonna get annoying around #15.
Torontoist: It’s not entirely clear how or when R. Kelly’s hip-hop opera “Trapped in the Closet” became a Zeitgeist.
Prefix: I guess “Trapped in the Closet” could be seen as independent film. It’s certainly independent from any cognitive reality.
I know that the true reason people read this blog is for accurate and timely R. Kelly news and information, and I’m not about to disappoint.
A few weeks ago I wrote here about my excitement for Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 13-22. According to the booklet of Double Up, the new chapters were scheduled to be released July 24th, 2007.
But as eagle-eyed Tristan noticed, the release date seem to have been pushed back. Amazon.com now lists it as August 21, 2007.
So until then, your appetite for Kells will have to be satiated by this video Jenna sent me today for “Same Girl.”
I didn’t think there was anyway R. Kelly could top “Trapped In the Closet,” but I was wrong. If you can keep from howling with laughter at this R. Kelly/Usher collabo, you’re a much better person than I am.
Personally, I don’t know if this tops TitC, but it’s certainly nice to see that Kelly hasn’t lost his obsession with infidelity.
I’m still amazed that I got two separate R. Kelly related emails today.
Two weeks ago, Jenna and I spent a long weekend in Boston, visiting relatives. My cousin Emily took us around town, and we ended up at Newbury Comics, where I found a relatively inexpensive copy of Trapped in the Closet, which I first saw almost a year ago.
We watched it as soon as we got home, and then again this past weekend. As always, it struck me as a masterpiece, but left me wanting more. Its narative structure is, after all, patterned after soap opera.
So imagine my delight when shortly afterwards, while perusing Wikipedia’s entry for TITC, I stumbled upon this exciting news:
Chapters 13-22 are scheduled to be released July 24th, 2007 according to the inside booklet of Double Up.
Waiting will be hard.
And just today, Steve Pratt recommended a recent review in Entertainment Weekly of R. Kelly’s latest, Double Up. It does a great job of summing up Kell’s mystique as a performer:
Kelly is kidding, right? If you’ve ever watched him lip-synch ”Closet” in its entirety with a straight face, you know this is a riddle for the ages. Is a sex-as-food anthem like ”Sweet Tooth” (”You’re lookin’ like a big ole piece of cake”) deliberately campy? Your guess is as good as ours.
If you haven’t seen Trapped in the Closet, go buy it (or watch it on YouTubeGoogle Video). I’ll see you in the lineup July 24.
Two weeks ago, Jenna and I spent a long weekend in Boston, visiting relatives. My cousin Emily took us around town, and we ended up at