Last week the impressive lineup to a show titled Soulquarius was announced. The show, which will take place on February 18th at the Observatory Grounds in Orange County is billed as an “R&B Jam.” People across social media expressed their excitement of having artists such as The Internet, Baby Bash, Jon B, Lloyd, Mya, Willow Smith, DMX, Brandy, Monica, Jhene Aiko, Kelis, Ja Rule, Ashanti, Erykah Badu, and more at one show. But, there was one singer that caused many eyebrows to raise, to put it mildly. The addition of the grammy award winning artist R. Kelly, a man who has been accused of serial child rape, sexual assault, and preying on underage girls, infuriated many. Since the announcement, a petition has been posted to Change.org urging for the show's organizers to remove R. Kelly from the lineup. The petition is titled "Kick R.Kelly's rapist ass off the SOULQUARIUS lineup." As of this writing it has garnered over five hundred signatures and has a goal of one thousand. Read the petition below and head here to Change.org to sign. Scroll down to check out the full lineup for Soulquarius.
"Hi All!The Observatory venue of Orange County released an awesome lineup for their SOULQUARIUS event February 18th, with the exception of R.Kelly. Despite an endless flood of abuse allegations and widespread knowledge of his notorious "romance" with the late singer Aaliyah, who was age 15 to his 27 years, Kelly has maintained a relatively successful career. It's this sort of nonchalance and casual embrace of abusers that rests at the fulcrum of rape culture, violence against women, and in this case, misogynoir. 2017 is around the corner and many of us still have to look on in disgust as a proven predator, rapist, and serial abuser of young Black girls and women remains embraced in the world of music. Stop booking this man. Stop supporting this man. There's great power in having a voice. Let's send a message that the music is not "separate" and the abuse of girls and women is *never* okay, no matter who you are or how many timeless ballads you've contributed to the world.
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H/T: Complex
