R. Kelly’s daughter Joann Kelly interviewed with Atlanta’s Majic 107.5 on Friday and said record labels have retracted their offers to sign her because she’s the daughter of R. Kelly.
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“Have you been turned down from stuff?” She was asked.
“Absolutely, simply based off of my last name,” Joann Kelly said. ” A lot of people don’t know, music is my first passion. I love music. I’m a singer, songwriter; I love music. And I’ve been doing music since I was 13 years old. That’s the first time I ever wrote a song, was at 13.”
Joann Kelly, who also starred in Growing Up Hip Hop: Atlanta, said that for quite some time, she has been trying to break into the industry for years.
“And from 13, up until 24, I have been trying to get into the music business,” she said. “Trying to get into the industry and all those years, it’s either been, you’re getting it because of who your dad is, or you’re not getting it because of who your dad is. I’ve been this close to a record deal, and when they found out who I was, it got swiped away.”
Joann Kelly hasn’t been in contact with R. Kelly, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison after he was found guilty of racketeering and violating the Mann Act.
She has spoken about R. Kelly’s legal issues dampening her chance to shine in the entertainment industry.
“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,” she told the Associated Press. “I’ve definitely come across turmoil…being judged for really no reason at all, just because of 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.”
Joann Kelly performs under the name “Buku Abi.”
