Hi music biz. Please read this, if you haven't already. Please read every article and document linked within. Please read these related timelines. There will be a one-question quiz afterward. A quiz you will be asked to give yourself: Can you still separate R. KELLY the artist from R. Kelly the man? Do you still have to? Do you still want to? Music is far from the only art that frequently asks you to separate the beauty of art from the reality of the artist who makes it, and Kelly is far from the only musician who has repeatedly forced the issue. But there's something unique about music, especially pop, in the depth and frequency with which it intersects with our everyday lives. And there's something uniquely horrifying about the allegations that have dogged Kelly for much of his career. He's never been convicted of any of them, it's important to note, and he denied the charges leveled Monday in a BUZZFEED blockbuster reported by JIM DEROGATIS, who has pursued Kelly for years. There have, on the other hand, been multiple out-of-court settlements and nondisclosure agreements with alleged victims. DeRogatis' newest piece, which accuses the singer of seducing, brainwashing, emotionally abusing and trapping women in a cult-like existence, is different. I'm not sure anything in it would constitute an actual crime even if proved true. It would just be astonishingly creepy. And inhumane. And, as DAMON YOUNG argues in VSB, difficult to disentangle from much of Kelly's music. "He makes crazy, nasty, deviant sex music because he’s a crazy, nasty sex deviant," Young writes. "These are not two separate parts of him." And, as Young and others have noted, he is allegedly using his music celebrity to facilitate what he's accused of doing. So how do you separate the man from the music, and how do you separate the music from everything you've read? And should you? And do you want to?... More crucial thinking on SOUNDCLOUD: It's "the best streaming service on EARTH" because it's the only one that fully embraces the idea of social media (feeds, feedback, likes, reposts, etc.). It really really needs a business model (but so do all its competitors). Let's archive the entire thing just in case... Love KELEFA SANNEH's profile of one of the all-time great singles artists, GEORGE STRAIT, with side trips to rodeos, radio and the LAS VEGAS strip... RIP TUXEDOMOON bassist PETER PRINCIPLE.