R.Kelly Chills On The Beach In Jamaica, Then Hits The Stage "Tipsy"

Kells was a little tipsy, but still delivered at Reggae Sumfest 2012.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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After pulling a no-show at last year's Reggae Sumfest, R. Kelly promised to make it up to his Jamaican fans at this year's 20th anniversary staging of the "Greatest Reggae Show on Earth." But instead of taking the stage at 12:30 as planned, R.Kelly showed up at the venue over an hour late. After a lengthy period of staring at an empty stage, the restless crowd was informed that R.Kelly had just boarded his bus from the hotel.

When he finally turned up at the show, R. Kelly was wearing the same jeans and Grumpy the elf T-shirt combo that he'd been photographed wearing upon his arrival in Jamaica several hours earlier. After launching into his set with joints like "That's That Shit" and "Hotel," Kells decided to "reach out and touch" his fans by sitting on the front of the stage and asking audience members to help him take his shoes off.

"What's going on y'all?" he asked the audience while walking across the stage in his sock feet. "Having a good time tonight? I just wanna thank y'all for having Kells. It's been a long time since I've been to Jamaica and I'm having a great time. I've been chillin' on the beach all day drinking, so y'all forgive me if I'm a lil' bit tipsy. But I'm gonna try to do the job." He then launched into an acapella version of "Sex in the Kitchen."

Once The Pied Piper of R&B started running through his deep catalog of hits, including "Ignition (Remix)" and "Step In The Name of Love," all was forgiven. Well, almost all.

"Making us wait is not a problem," remarked one young lady in the audience. "But he could have bathed and put on something nice when he came to Jamaica."

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