Wanna Be There

Album: The Buffet (2015)
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Songfacts®:

  • R. Kelly hadn't seen his estranged teenage daughter Joann Kelly for three years when they had a chance run-in at a mall. A budding singer-songwriter who goes by the performing name of Ariirayé, he invited her to the studio to record this boldly personal duet where Kelly apologizes for his parental failings. It was the first time they'd hung out in years.

    "It was very emotional for both of us, you know," Kelly told Rolling Stone. "At first, she was a little uncomfortable, but I was telling her how she could touch the hearts of a lot of girls out there that haven't seen their fathers. We can touch a lot of daughters and fathers, and mothers. 'Cause [there's] a lot of women that haven't seen their fathers, a lot of fathers that haven't been able to be around their kids like they want to be."

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