Hey, everyone. Just a heads up that we are talking about the R. Kelly trial in this episode. That means you're going to be hearing about sexual abuse and assault. You'll also hear a few expletives. Okay, on to the show.

Jim de Regatus has always wanted to be a music journalist. You can tell he's a fan just by

looking at his tattooed arms. They're covered in album art like he's an illustrated man. There's the

tongue and lips, the Rolling Stones made famous, the public enemy logo. Then there's the

Velvet Underground's banana. I needed to remind myself that music is a

reason for living. That's what I called my first fanzine when I was, you know, a wee young lad of

20. And so there's Brian Eno and 13th floor elevators and Flaming Lips and Husker Do and Ride and Nirvana.

Wow.

Everything but R. Kelly.

And R. Kelly is in my psyche, unfortunately, but not on my arms.

R. Kelly is in Jim's head because for two decades, Jim has been breaking story after story

about the way the R&B phenomenon has abused and manipulated women and girls.

When Kelly went on trial in Chicago, 13 years back, it was because of a sex tape that had been dropped in Jim's mailbox.

Some of Jim's more recent reporting that Kelly was behind

what some have called a sex cult landed the singer back in custody. Now R. Kelly is on trial

again in New York. Jim says, after talking to dozens of accusers, it surprises him how much he's

still learning.

You say it's 48 women.

That I know.

I get the sense you could name all of them.

Yeah, I certainly could.

Tiffany, Patrice, and Tracy, Montina, Alia, you know, Gerhanda, Dominique, Faith, Kitty,

...