Def Jam Cancel’s Promotion Of R. Kelly/Jigga Collabo

Def Jam has canceled all promotions surrounding the R.Kelly/Jay-Z collaboration album, Best Of Both Worlds. After having $100,000 press day at New York’s Waldorf Astoria that attracted Russell Simmons, Johnnie Cochran and Puff Daddy to name a few, the plug has been pulled to avoid any negativity being placed on one of Def Jam’s top […]

Def Jam has canceled all promotions surrounding

the R.Kelly/Jay-Z collaboration album, Best

Of Both Worlds. After having $100,000 press day at New York’s Waldorf Astoria

that attracted Russell Simmons, Johnnie Cochran and Puff Daddy to name a few,

the plug has been pulled to avoid any negativity being placed on one of Def

Jam’s top artists. “”We don’t want any negative associations that might come

with a video, any accusations or anything,”” Def Jam president Kevin Lyles told

Time magazine in a recent issue. Jay-Z will not appear with Kelly in any pictures

either and recently had his removed from the Vibe magazine which feature R.

Kelly on the cover.

Protests have erupted nation wide over the controversy.

Ten protesters led by Rev. Bamani Obadele and Illinois state Representative

Ken Junkin smashed R. Kelly CD’s at the Chicago radio station, WGCI. The protesters

are urging the station to stop playing Kelly’s music until he issues an explanation.

Kelly phoned in to the station and claimed that he was a victim of his own fame,

saying “”When you’re famous, they expect you to work miracles, and I’m not God.””

In Philly, a gay and lesbian group known as Racial

Unity is picketing Sam Goody record stores to prevent the chain from selling

any R. Kelly music. Just last week, Kelly agreed to settle a lawsuit for an

undisclosed sum brought against him by Tracy Sampson, who claims that Kelly

talked her into having sex with him when she was 17 years old. In Milwaukee,

police arrested DJ Homer Blow of WNOV-AM for hosting a nightclub showing of

the video tape, which allegedly shows R. Kelly having sex with an underage girl

and urinating on her.Blow was also fired

from WNOV for his antics.