06/07/2019
Music journalist DeRogatis (Let It Blurt ; Turn on Your Mind ) describes his nearly two-decade investigation into R&B singer R. Kelly's physical, mental, and sexual abuse of up to 48 girls and women. Growing up in Chicago, Kelly was sexually abused by his half-sister and an unknown man as a child. Since the early 1990s, he preyed on underage girls with the allure of breaking into the music industry. He hid this sexual abuse by paying off victims and making them sign nondisclosure agreements. Kelly made videotapes of his sexual encounters as trophies, including one with a 14-year-old girl, which made its way to DeRogatis. Kelly is portrayed as a cultlike figure who demanded total control over women, including what they wore and when they went to the bathroom. DeRogatis recounts the singer's marriage to his 15-year-old protege Aaliyah and the 2008 trial that led to Kelly's acquittal. DeRogatis lays some blame on law enforcement, the music industry, lawyers, and parents for failing to protect these girls. VERDICT Individuals who have experienced abuse may want to avoid this book entirely. For readers interested in the cult of celebrity, the life of R. Kelly, true crime, journalism, and the #MeToo movement.—Chris Wilkes, Tazewell Cty. P.L., VA
07/08/2019
Singer R. Kelly’s alleged relationships with underage girls are examined in this exhaustive exposé by former Chicago Sun-Times journalist DeRogatis (Let It Blurt ). DeRogatis spent nearly two decades interviewing Kelly’s family members and former business associates, law enforcement officials, and many of the singer’s alleged victims, and here he chronicles how Kelly, born into a poor, sexually dysfunctional family and virtually illiterate, rose to be one of his generation’s most successful pop music stars. He also allegedly had a series of sexual encounters with minors. Without getting bogged down in minutiae, DeRogatis covers Kelly’s annulled marriage to the young singer Aaliyah, an unsuccessful 2008 child pornography case against him, and the numerous allegations of Kelly holding several women against their will in cultlike fashion, paying them off with out-of-court settlements that required signing nondisclosure agreements. Throughout this riveting story, DeRogatis keeps a sympathetic focus on Kelly’s accusers: “It must feel liberating for these women, after years of keeping their hurt feelings bottled up, to finally have the support of a sympathetic audience,” he writes. In addition, he extends the blame for Kelly’s misbehavior to “the employees of record labels, recording studios, radio stations, video outlets, magazines, websites, and newspapers.” DeRogatis captivates in this expertly told narrative. (June)
"If not for Jim DeRogatis, singer R. Kelly would still be selling out arenas, and the women who accuse the singer of sexual and physical assault would still be unheard. No one has followed their harrowing stories longer than DeRogatis, a mensch and one hell of a reporter. Soulless is an astonishing document of journalistic doggedness, and one man's decades-long pursuit of justice and truth."
Boston Globe opinion columnist - Renee Graham
More than a straight-forward account of Kelly’s wrongdoing … Soulless offers a dogged combination of biography, investigative reporting, and cultural criticism. … As much as Soulless is an account of Kelly’s misbehavior, it’s a finger firmly pointed in the direction of the people and institutions that enabled, and even encouraged, him.
A devastating, thorough accounting of Kelly’s alleged abuses as systematized predation. In explicitly outlining the multiple junctures at which Kelly, his supporters, law enforcement, and journalists have failed the dozens of young black women whom Kelly is accused of abusing, DeRogatis definitively—if also wearily—conveys the sheer magnitude of Kelly’s relative impunity.
“This book tracks the case and asks why the culture was so slow to catch up.”
DeRogatis blends investigative journalism, pop cultural criticism, and social commentary … [Soulless ] is unflinching in its indictment of a culture and legal system unable to render any semblance of justice for black girls. … Soulless is the kind of intervention we need, especially when the stakes are this high.
Kelly’s dirty secrets are revealed in this book, and so is the wide gap between true justice and the law.
A must-read.
Jim DeRogatis' dedication to covering R. Kelly's crimes for all these years has always stunned me, because I am completely unused to anyone other than Black women and girls caring this much about anything that happens to us. This book is a must-read look at both the devastating actions of an unrepentant predator and the dogged work of a journalist who refuses to let him escape accountability."
writer and cultural critic - Jamilah Lemieux
A comprehensive document of the many allegations of statutory rape, sexual assault, and physical and psychological abuse levied against R. Kelly dating back to 1991. … packed start to finish.
"An admirable account . . . a brutal corrective to R. Kelly's myth"
An absorbing, horrifying, and damning book. … Soulless is an important testament of DeRogatis’ slog towards justice, and of the forces that have seemingly cosseted R. Kelly and his career … It’s also a journalistic indictment: of Kelly himself; of the political machinery of Chicago; and of the music industry. … An essential book.
"There really isn’t anyone more qualified to write about the saga of R. Kelly than Jim DeRogatis. Jim has done the work. He’s built the relationships. He’s cared about the outcome for almost two decades. It’s clear that Kelly isn’t just his white whale but that he sees the humanity in the women who have survived R. Kelly. We really only need to hear from Jim."
founder of the MeToo movement - Tarana Burke
"A brave and important book"
Essential … the culmination of DeRogatis’ career reporting on Kelly’s alleged behavior.
"There really isn’t anyone more qualified to write about the saga of R. Kelly than Jim DeRogatis. Jim has done the work. He’s built the relationships. He’s cared about the outcome for almost two decades. It’s clear that Kelly isn’t just his white whale but that he sees the humanity in the women who have survived R. Kelly. We really only need to hear from Jim."—Tarana Burke , founder of the MeToo movement “This book tracks the case and asks why the culture was so slow to catch up.” —The New York Times "For the last 19 years Jim DeRogatis has consistently been one of the few white male voices in media speaking up about a criminal whose crimes spans decades. Jim has elevated black women and their work into the public eye, even when the public wanted to ignore what was happening. This Soulless is a deep dive into some of the darkest places in a community and a culture, a post mortem for a predator and for the system that enabled him."—Mikki Kendall , author of Hood Feminism and Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists "If not for Jim DeRogatis, singer R. Kelly would still be selling out arenas, and the women who accuse the singer of sexual and physical assault would still be unheard. No one has followed their harrowing stories longer than DeRogatis, a mensch and one hell of a reporter. Soulless is an astonishing document of journalistic doggedness, and one man's decades-long pursuit of justice and truth."—Renee Graham , Boston Globe opinion columnist “A devastating, thorough accounting of Kelly’s alleged abuses as systematized predation. In explicitly outlining the multiple junctures at which Kelly, his supporters, law enforcement, and journalists have failed the dozens of young black women whom Kelly is accused of abusing, DeRogatis definitively—if also wearily—conveys the sheer magnitude of Kelly’s relative impunity.”—The Atlantic “More than a straight-forward account of Kelly’s wrongdoing … Soulless offers a dogged combination of biography, investigative reporting, and cultural criticism. … As much as Soulless is an account of Kelly’s misbehavior, it’s a finger firmly pointed in the direction of the people and institutions that enabled, and even encouraged, him.”—Pitchfork “Jim DeRogatis' dedication to covering R. Kelly's crimes for all these years has always stunned me, because I am completely unused to anyone other than Black women and girls caring this much about anything that happens to us. This book is a must-read look at both the devastating actions of an unrepentant predator and the dogged work of a journalist who refuses to let him escape accountability." —Jamilah Lemieux , writer and cultural critic "A brave and important book"—Booklist “A must-read.”—Variety “Kelly’s dirty secrets are revealed in this book, and so is the wide gap between true justice and the law.”—AV Club “A thorough exposé … harrowingly detailed [and] meticulously described … A piercing work of investigative journalism.”—Kirkus "An admirable account . . . a brutal corrective to R. Kelly's myth"—Chicago Tribune “Essential … the culmination of DeRogatis’ career reporting on Kelly’s alleged behavior.”—USA Today “A comprehensive document of the many allegations of statutory rape, sexual assault, and physical and psychological abuse levied against R. Kelly dating back to 1991. … packed start to finish.”—Vulture “An absorbing, horrifying, and damning book. … Soulless is an important testament of DeRogatis’ slog towards justice, and of the forces that have seemingly cosseted R. Kelly and his career … It’s also a journalistic indictment: of Kelly himself; of the political machinery of Chicago; and of the music industry. … An essential book.”—NPR.org “DeRogatis blends investigative journalism, pop cultural criticism, and social commentary … [Soulless ] is unflinching in its indictment of a culture and legal system unable to render any semblance of justice for black girls. … Soulless is the kind of intervention we need, especially when the stakes are this high.”—LitHub “DeRogatis captivates in this expertly told narrative” —Publishers Weekly
Essential … the culmination of DeRogatis’ career reporting on Kelly’s alleged behavior.
"An admirable account . . . a brutal corrective to R. Kelly's myth"
"A brave and important book"
“This book tracks the case and asks why the culture was so slow to catch up.”