R. Kelly's National Anthem

[paynomind]

At the Hopkins/Taylor fight, being aired on HBO Saturday, R Kelly "performed" the national anthem. Well, not THE national anthem, his national anthem.

In a rendition pushing the boundries of renditions, he turns the standard into a step, breakdown, hand-clapping show.

Very interesting. Take a look when it airs this Saturday.

Scoop jackson even wrote about it.

Scoop Jackson

[MadmanLA]

One of the local sports radio shows here in town played Robert's (what R stands) performance, and it was so brutal, I was laughing my ass off. Before all these child molester/pedophelia stories about him came about, and that his new stuff kinda sucks now, I used to like his music a lot.

[NJTank]

He butchered the Anthem he should never be invited toi sing it again anywhere.

[SEMOSTLfan]

what a fluffin' idiot, someone for the love of god lock this man up before he hurts himself or anyone else again. And no the anthem should not be performed however the hell you want it to be. sing it right. keep it simple stupid.

[Cujo]

R. Kelly's rendition may be bad, but nobody will ever top Carl Lewis.

Lewis: "...and the rocket's . . . redglare!"

TV play-by-play man: "Ut oh!"

[FiddySicks]

R. Kelly's rendition may be bad, but nobody will ever top Carl Lewis.

Lewis: "...and the rocket's . . . redglare!"

TV play-by-play man: "Ut oh!"

What about Rosanne's rendition?

[OMMF]

I'll repost this from my blog:

So there was a minor controversy brewing last week about R Kelly's version of the national anthem sang before a boxing match. His version was complete with background beats, dancers "steppin" to the anthem and even a break in the song where he encouraged the crowd to clap along.

And?

I may be in the minority here but I honestly see nothing wrong with this. Music has always been open to intepretation. If it werent, using this season as an example, all holiday songs would sound exactly the same. Individual touches and nuances are what keep progressing music. Now is the anthem off-limits simply because it is a national symbol? I think not. It's just a song. If you hold tones and rhythm in such high regard, then I worry about the rest of life. In the same way that the anthem is a song, the flag is a piece of cloth. Sure these items represent something but that's all they are, representations. There was no malice in his performance, nothing to indicate that he didn't respect the song he was singing. It was simply a different version of the song. Now that's not to say it was a good one but I have a little bit of respect for him trying something different.

Sing that song. Burn that flag. Just make sure you are doing it your way.

[Cujo]

R. Kelly's rendition may be bad, but nobody will ever top Carl Lewis.

Lewis: "...and the rocket's . . . redglare!"

TV play-by-play man: "Ut oh!"

What about Rosanne's rendition?

Carl still wins eerrr loses... you know what I mean.

[zer0dotcom]

It's a national anthem, not a top 20 pop song.

[Hat Boy]

As a song, the National Anthem is open to interpretation, but I don't like it when people sing it with a little bit of soul or try to add a bit of country or rock flavor to it. If it were up to me, people would sing it in the traditional way.

However, not matter how you sing it, I beleive the Anthem should be sung and not performed. Having dancers and telling the audience to clap their hands is just absurd.

[NJTank]

R. Kelly's rendition may be bad, but nobody will ever top Carl Lewis.

Lewis: "...and the rocket's . . . redglare!"

TV play-by-play man: "Ut oh!"

Well that was until Carl Lewis threw a baseball like a 4 year old girl.

[DJR118]

I'll repost this from my blog:

So there was a minor controversy brewing last week about R Kelly's version of the national anthem sang before a boxing match. His version was complete with background beats, dancers "steppin" to the anthem and even a break in the song where he encouraged the crowd to clap along.

And?

I may be in the minority here but I honestly see nothing wrong with this. Music has always been open to intepretation. If it werent, using this season as an example, all holiday songs would sound exactly the same. Individual touches and nuances are what keep progressing music. Now is the anthem off-limits simply because it is a national symbol? I think not. It's just a song. If you hold tones and rhythm in such high regard, then I worry about the rest of life. In the same way that the anthem is a song, the flag is a piece of cloth. Sure these items represent something but that's all they are, representations. There was no malice in his performance, nothing to indicate that he didn't respect the song he was singing. It was simply a different version of the song. Now that's not to say it was a good one but I have a little bit of respect for him trying something different.

Sing that song. Burn that flag. Just make sure you are doing it your way.

to each their own i guess - the anthem isn't something that needs to be progressive - its more than just a song in the same way the flag is more than a piece of fabric - r. kelly's "performance" was a disgrace to the anthem and his country IMHO

[Lee.]

The National Anthem, whichever one it is, is just that- the song that represents your country. it is open to interpretation, TO A POINT. Add some soul, change the key, fine. Sing it in your style as opposed to a John-Philippe Sousa march, great.

But you don't add hoochie dancers, breakbeats, and a clap yo' hands section. That's just dumb.

R Kelly is obviously a Democrat. I think I speak for all young urban males, 18-35, when I say that this would never have happened with Goldwater in the White House.