R. Kelly’s Daughter Says Classmates Told Her About His Child Porn Case, She Contemplated Suicide

R. Kelly’s Daughter Says Classmates Told Her About His Child Porn Case, Led Her to Contemplate Suicide

While her infamous father’s star is dimming, Joann “Buku Abi” Kelly‘s is rising and burning brightly! The 21-year-old singer recently opened about how the strained relationship between her and her father, R. Kelly, has both helped and harmed her, forging her own identity, and how music – their one common ground – helped save her life.

In her latest interview, Buku Abi admitted that she first learned about her father’s sex trafficking and child porn allegations as a public school student, where the bullying, eventually, led her to contemplate taking her own life:

“At home it’s normal, you’re living a life with your parents; your dad and mom aren’t going to go into all the bad things that might be going on outside of home, but kids in school don’t necessarily care. Fifth and sixth grade is when I started learning the sore part of it, the not so good part. I think that was the hardest part for me because for so long I went with this image of who my dad was and what my family was.”

But it was, also, in school where she discovered music for herself. She recalls the high she experienced performing in her first talent show as a teenager:

“[It] literally felt like drugs…I needed more of this. Clearly I can’t keep running from this anymore. Ever since then, I’ve been in it and it’s literally saved my life.”

To avoid the scrutiny that came with the last name, Kelly – Buku shied away from music:

“I think you get to see a different side of it than somebody who sees it from the outside and gets to see the glitz and glam. I got to see the hell part of it. I didn’t want to be in the industry.”

As an adult, she created her own identity – first with the stage name, Ariirayé, and her latest alias, Buku Abi. But, R. Kelly’s tarnished reputation still haunts her:

“I definitely run across challenges — people wanting to work with me to spite him or people not wanting to work with me just because of who he is. I’ve definitely come across turmoil – being judged for really no reason at all, just based off associations. I’ve been pushing through it. Me making the art, it saved my life so there’s nothing really that would be able to stop me.”

Buku and her father even recorded a song together (“Wanna Be There” from his 2015 “Buffet” album) in hopes of restoring their relationship. She added:

“He has made mistakes in his life and other things that he’s dealing with, but when it comes to that, I can’t take that away from him. That’s the one thing that will always keep us connected…There’s a lot about him as an artist that inspires me.”

However, Buku Abi’s and R. Kelly’s relationship, eventually, became completely estranged. She says that she has tuned out the noise of the media firestorm that came with the documentary, “Surviving R. Kelly.”

“I don’t let that be a part of my every day life. We don’t have a relationship, so it’s not like me to check in on him. I don’t personally go look it all up and read. I keep myself out of it.”

Written by Miata Shanay