After Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly docuseries aired, several men in hip-hop and R&B publicly declared that they’ll no longer support him or his music. Two radio stations in Dallas have since joined the unfollowing. The hip-hop/R&B station K104 and KRNB, which plays R&B, announced their decision to stop playing R. Kelly’s music on-air.
Both stations are owned by Service Broadcasting Corporation, which released the following statement (per Rolling Stone):
“Smooth R&B 105.7 and K104 made the decision to drop R. Kelly’s music from our playlists due to the outpouring of concern from our listeners regarding Kelly’s alleged sexual assaults of underage girls,” owner Service Broadcasting Corporation explained in a statement. “There are no immediate plans to drop music from any other artists.”
Claudia Jordan, who hosts a morning show on KRNB, shared a clip of her on-air remarks about the allegations of sexual assault and abuse against Kelly on Instagram. She starts by interrupting a song:
“Cut this song off… Let me tell you something right now—and we are guilty of this… R. Kelly’s music is amazing. That song is a great song, but up against the background of what we know… where there were girls actually locked up in rooms and urinating in buckets and held against their will, even if they were over 18, it just has a different meaning now, and I just feel like, in good conscience, we just can’t continue to support this guy.”
“Sadly, there are a lot of people out there and what they do in their work—they are talented people—but they have demons,” she added. “And I feel like as a woman that is an advocate for other women… we cannot support this man anymore.”
DeDe McGuire, the host of DeDe in the Morning for K104, told a local TV news outlet, “I’m glad that radio is taking that stance, radio has always played a major role in the black community.”
She posted the clip to Instagram and spoke over it, adding: “Meaning that if the courts won’t take care of [Kelly] in terms of punishing him, then we’ll stop playing his music as punishment.”