Same Closet, New Chapter: R. Kelly on How to Keep a Story Going (And Going And Going)

R. Kelly has just debuted 10 new chapters of his long-running "Trapped in the Closet" saga. But that’s not all: he also has a "Trapped" book and a Broadway musical on deck. Oh, and 85 more chapters in the works. The prolific artist explains the process behind his long story and how he keeps people listening. "This has got to be a joke." That’s how casual fans and naysayers alike greeted the Pied Piper of R&B, R. Kelly, in 2005, when he unveiled a dialogue-heavy, narrative music video with the evocative title, "Trapped in the Closet: Chapter 1." It was clearly the beginning of something, but nobody, not even the artist himself, knew what exactly, or how broad a tapestry he’d begun to weave. They couldn’t tell if it was a parody or not; they just knew it was different, and that they couldn’t not watch it. "Chapter 1" turned out to be the opening salv...