R. Kelly Vows to Reveal "Tears, Fears and Sweat" in 2011 Memoir

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"Trapped In the Closet" mastermind R. Kelly will be releasing a "tell-all" memoir sometime in 2011, and publishers SmileyBooks promise the project will clear up several misconceptions about the embattled R&B star. "I'm writing this book as Robert, not R. Kelly," Kelly says in the release. "I'm tired of being misunderstood. I will show you the tears, fears, and sweat. I will open my heart and reveal the good in my life as well as all the drama. I want to tell it like it is."

Kelly, whose long-running child pornography trial ended with an acquittal last year, will co-write the as-yet-untitled book with David Ritz, and promises to focus on the loss he endured following the death of his mother, the motivation behind his sexually charged lyrics and his six-year legal ordeal.

The announcement comes on the heels of the release of Kelly's tenth studio set, Untitled, which sold more than 114,000 copies to debut at Number Four this week on Billboard's Top 200.

In the book, Kelly also promises to explore how his creative mind is flexible enough to generate what the release describes as "inspiring ballads [like] the iconic 'I Believe I Can Fly' and 'You Are Not Alone,' which became a No. 1 hit for Michael Jackson" along with saucy R&B smashes like "Bump N' Grind."

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

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