DJ Envy Recalls When R. Kelly Flew Him Out As A Teen

DJ Envy Recalls R. Kelly Flying Him Out As A Teen

In a recent interview, DJ Envy recalled the time R. Kelly flew him out to help him put together a mixtape.

“This was the mixtape days. So this was when I was like 19, 20. And this is when I was on mixtapes. They reached out to me and R. Kelly wanted to do an R&B mixtape. Flew me out to Chicago. And that was it. That was it,” Envy told DJ Vlad.

He continued: “I remember he flew me out on like, a Friday. It sounds crazy saying, ‘flew me out.’ I got flown out on a Friday, I get there, get in the hotel, nice hotel, five-star, everything first class. Friday, nothing.”

“They didn’t return my call. No studio. So, I said alright. And it was supposed to be a weekend thing, so Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Saturday, wake up, no call.”

He added, “Now mind you, I’m by myself. Waiting. No call. So I got on a flight, and flew myself back Saturday night. I felt like I was an Instagram model that somebody flew out. I was too ugly to holla at.”

R. Kelly has been credited with helping to redefine R&B and hip hop, earning nicknames such as “the King of R&B”, “the King of Pop-Soul”, and the “Pied Piper of R&B”. He was convicted for sex trafficking, child pornography, and sexual exploitation of a minor.

Kelly was sentenced in Chicago federal court on February 23, 2023. Judge Harry Leinenweber sentenced Kelly to 20 years: 19 concurrent to the 30-year sentence from New York and 1 year consecutively, effectively bringing his sentence to 31 years.