“Ohhhh, say can you step! Til’ the dawn’s early light”
OK, not exactly what R. Kelly sang, but only Kells would take the nation’s most revered song and turn it into one of his Chicago steppin’ jams.
Flash back to a couple of weeks ago to the Bernard Hopkins-Jermain Taylor boxing match in Las Vegas. R. Kelly treated fight fans to a jazzed-up national anthem–inserting the intermittent “Somebody!” and “Clap your hands!”–and the crowd’s reaction was “decidedly unenthusiastic,” according to The New York Times.
That’s nothing compared to the discontent on Web forums such as stophazing.org and cantstopthebleeding.com:
“I’m a die-hard R. Kelly fan but I must admit that he set us black people back about 10 years by disrespecting the national anthem!”
So what’s the fuss about? Listen for yourself at chicagoimprov.org/forum/index.php?t=getfile&id=249&.
