Ain’t Nothin Wrong With A Little Bump and Grindcore is a project that’s been in the works for a while. For some people, this event makes no sense. For others, it was a shocker that no one had done it before. The reasoning behind the tribute is that, controversies aside, R. Kelly is a legitimate genius and a legitimate crazy person, as unintentionally funny as he is sincerely soulful. He would be intriguing enough as just a cult of personality, but the music justifies the bravado. Dude has earned his swagger with 20+ years of ass-shaking hits like “I’m a Flirt”, “Ignition”, and “Fiesta”, plus inspirational jams (or at least catchy-if-annoying-earworms) like “I Believe I Can Fly”.

GlitterGuts founder Eric lab Rat started the Chicago Genius Project and… fuck it, this is Eric talking, and I don’t want to talk in the third person. The Chicago Genius Project is a celebration of some of the epic weirdos in this city. Future tributes will celebrate the work of Wesley Willis and Henry Darger.

For Bump and Grindcore, DJs British Knights and Moneyworth spun a mix of R. Kelly’s hits, and super poppy (or filthy) pop R’n’B, New Jack Swing, and pop that goes along with it (think Missy Elliot, Aaliyah, Bel Biv Devoe, and Adina Howard). There were two burlesque acts that were polar opposites: Josephine Shaker’s traditional 1950’s take, and Lady Shana Von Gabor’s industrial, fire-and-sparks routine (set to Wreck’s take on P-Funk’s “Atomic Dog” and Hood Internet’s mashup of R. Kelly and Shellac). Super fun local pop-act The Embraceables played a handful of their own songs, along with “Ignition” and “Pony” (by Ginuwine).

And one of the things I was really excited to do was have dramatic readings of R. Kelly’s lyrics by rapper Show You Suck, comedian Emerson Dameron, Chicago RedEye columnist Ernest Wilkins, fashion blogger (and GlitterGuts photographer!) Meagan Fredette, Burning Angel starlet Sidney Scarlet, and artist Jack Absinthe, who read “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number” by R. Kelly’s former wife (whoat the time was VERY underage), the late, great Aaliyah, in a leather jacket and a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses.

Scroll down to see the full set of pictures from the night. Right click any image to download.

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