Benzino believes that R. Kelly is being treated unfairly after the latter was sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges in 2022.
During an appearance on the We In Miami podcast that was published on Wednesday (April 24), the media proprietor talked about redemption in the context of male artists having sexual relations with girls who are below the age of consent.
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“Everybody deserves a second chance,” he said when asked about the Chicago native. “The legal age is 16 years old, so does that make it right if a n-gga does it, yes or no?”
When the women around the table all collectively agreed that it’s still wrong, he continued: “Alright, but it’s legal in America, so why the fuck is R. Kelly doing all this time? Because you know why? Because they’re 14 and 13 — two years younger — but you don’t think that the people who cleared it for 16 years old didn’t know that they’re fucking with 13s and 14s, too.
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“Like even to make [an] age that young to be the law, you already know they’re going under that. I’m not condoning n-ggas fucking with little girls — it’s sick, alright, it’s sick, it’s sick — but I don’t think R. Kelly should rot in jail for 30 years either.”
The 58-year-old added: “What about R. Kelly getting molested when he was a kid? They didn’t take [that into] consideration […] They exploited him and made all these documentaries that all these people made money off of.
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“Them parents of them girls knew what they were dealing with, with R. Kelly — a lot of people knew that shit, y’know what I’m saying? — but R. Kelly wasn’t educated, man. Like when does that come in play?
Watch the former co-owner of The Source discuss the disgraced vocalist at the 12:32 mark below:
Likewise, Boosie Badazz was also quite upset about R. Kelly’s three-decade sentence. The Baton Rouge rapper admitted the R&B veteran was “wrong” for what he did and that he deserves to serve time behind bars, though he also argued that his crimes don’t warrant such a lengthy term.
“People getting 15/20 years for murder n he get 30!!” he tweeted. “Yes he was wrong af for manipulating young girls n sexing them but he didn’t kill anyone,aggravated rape anyone .N no blame on the parents who knew everything. Resentence this man!! College professors get probation for this shit.
“Get this man some help n some jail time but don’t give him a death sentence ,30 years !!Maybe he can one get out one day n warn these young girls about older predators n make a difference ?but 30 years like Come on world!!”
He even pointed the finger at the parents of Kelly’s victims, posting a screenshot of a court document that alleged one of the underage girls’ mother “engineered [her] relationship” with the singer and “actively misled [him] about her age.”
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Soon after the “Ignition” hitmaker was sent to prison, Boosie also called him the “best to ever do it” as he danced along to songs from his leaked project, I Admit It.
The first social-media video featured him smiling and bobbing his head as the artist details a conversation with Wendy Williams on the three-part title track.
“She said, ‘What about Aaliyah,’ I said, ‘Love’/ She said, ‘What about the tape,’ I said, ‘Hush’/ I said, ‘My lawyers said don’t say [nothin] but I can tell you that I been set up,” he sings on the joint, which was previously released on Soundcloud back in 2018.
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The Louisiana rapper’s caption matched the enthusiasm he expressed in the video as he wrote: “R.Kelly TALKING DAT SHIll [flame emoji] THE BEST TO EVER DO IT [star emoji] YOU BETTER GO LISTEN TO THE ALBUM [100 emoji] NUMBER 1 FAN -BOOSIE BADAZZ.”
A few minutes later, he returned to Instagram with another clip, this time listening to the 57-year-old sing the first few lines of a song titled “Planet,” which resembles Marvin Gaye’s classic, “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).”
“THIS MF R.KELLY IS THE GREATEST [flame emoji,” the rapper captioned the second post. “IM LIT TODAY!! #FreeRKellyAsap”
