R&B Singer R. Kelly Compares Himself to Martin Luther King Jr.

R. Kelly is on top of the world, his world. Forget his problems in the past and focus on this: Kelly recently said in a magazine interview that he compares himself to Bob Marley, Muhammad Ali, Marvin Gaye, and to top it off, the heroic Martin Luther King Jr. All this was because of his double album CD title "Double Up" which is scheduled to release in the weeks to come. The interview took place for spring and summer issues of Hip Hop Soul magazine. R. Kelly kicks up dust by saying, "I'm the Ali of today. I'm the Marvin Gaye of today. I'm the Bob Marley of today. I'm the Martin Luther King, or all the other greats that have come before us. And a lot of people are starting to realize that now."

Once the media got a hold of this it was a rap. The New York Post ran the quote recently and Kelly has gotten a huge backlash. Although his publicist tried to defend his unreasonable comments by reiterating, "He doesn't think he's Martin Luther King. He's comparing the fact that he is a prolific songwriter of his time; now it's turned into something else. Whatever Rob said, any way they can stick it to him. If he breathes it's a problem."

With the years passing by, R. Kelly's innocence goes with it. From the signature "I believe I can Fly", to the man "flirting with your girl in the club"; the digression is evidently evident. Ego only goes so far, but to compare his meaningless "legacy" to historic figures, let alone a humble freedom fighter, is flat out foolish. Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King Junior fought race wars; the only wars Kelly have fought our court room battles.

A spokesman for R. Kelly said, "What I would suggest to anybody who is put off by that quote is read the entire interview, which I think much better reflects what Rob was trying to say." But keep in mind, this modern day Luther is due in court Friday for another hearing in one of his many legal issues that started years ago. Don't forget that Kelly is charged with 14 counts of child pornography for allegedly videotaping himself engaging in sex acts with an underage girl. But Kelly's story sounds like Ali. Its obvious Kelly's methodic words float like an innocent butterfly, but his court actions depressingly sting like a bee. Try that for relativity.