Azriel Clary was one of two women who defended R. Kelly following allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation. Clary and Joycelyn Savage called themselves Kelly’s ‘girlfriends’ and tried to paint the disgraced singer as a misunderstood saint. After Clary’s 2019 interview with CBS Newsher father told Gayle King:
“That’s not my daughter. That’s not her. She doesn’t talk like that. That’s not what she thinks.”
Clary’s father was right. He overcame Kelly’s manipulation and testified against her in court. Some of his testimony was so graphic that the judge prevented it from being made public.
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Azriel Clary is creating and releasing music, which is helping her heal.
Clary’s desire to make it in the music industry inadvertently drew her into Kelly’s network. She saw him as a mentor who could facilitate her growth as a vocalist. She told Jason Lee of hollywood unlocked:
“I felt like, ‘What am I doing if I’m not making music?’ And that’s what happens when you’re dealing with someone who’s very toxic and you’re very young.”
Kelly quickly manipulated Azriel, forcing her to give up her musical dream. “A lot of people don’t necessarily understand how quickly things escalated.”
When Azriel broke free of Kelly’s grasp, she was mentally at an all time low. He had been abused for four years by a man she had seen as a mentor, and she went on national television to defend him.
Azriel told him REVOLT that making music helped her survive those difficult times:
“Music has helped me a lot. It was one of the biggest tools that helped me find myself again. It was about going back to basics, remembering who I was [and] relearn me Music was what helped me when I was very depressed and at my lowest point. It was the only thing that felt comfortable. [doing].”
Clary released her first song, Liar Liarin autumn 2021, followed by sounds of an angel and Inside of me in the spring of 2022. He plans to release his debut EP, eat your heartin the summer of 2022.
Azriel told him huffpost her experience with Kelly allowed her to re-establish and appreciate the value of music in her life. “It was really about going back to that girl and remembering who I was and what I liked and what made me happy,” she said.
Clary told the outlet that people who tune in to her upcoming EP will discover her true nature and hopefully forget about the doctored version they saw on TV in 2019. She explained:
“No one knows who Azriel is. Everyone knows a very scared version of me, a side of me that was very vulnerable, taken advantage of, a very young and naive side of me. And I think from this, people can start to see that I’m nervous.”
Clary’s healing journey has involved music, therapy, and vulnerability. Azriel told him REVOLT that therapy helped her rediscover self-love and self-confidence. “I feel that apart from the music, [therapy sessions were] it can help me break down a lot of barriers,” he said.
Azriel told the outlet that her therapist could tell if she had been making music through the singer’s mood. Clary was happiest and most upbeat when she was making music. “Music was definitely an outlet,” Clary said.
Clary also found healing in being vulnerable to the public. She said hollywood unlocked that by opening up she hoped that other women in her situation would find strength in her vulnerability. azriel said:
“For me, it was very, very important to show how I healed and my healing process. Days I was happy, days I was sad, days I was depressed and days I was high.”
Through healing, Clary has rediscovered happiness. “This is probably the happiest I’ve ever been in my life,” Clary said. HuffPost. “I am achieving things. I’m breaking old habits, and it really is a great place to be.”
Azriel is glad that her family has accepted her back into
Clary’s parents reacted to their daughter’s musical aspirations by offering her access to vocal coaches and lessons. After entering high school in Orlando, Florida, she began playing instruments and learned proper voice control.
When the opportunity to grow musically with R. Kelly arose, Azriel’s parents encouraged her to take it. Azriel said in hollywood unlocked who does not blame his parents for the decision:
“I feel like you can never blame a parent [or an] adult who left their child with an adult, so let’s start there…it doesn’t belong to anyone except the adult the child stayed with.”
In her 2019 interview with Gayle King, Azriel criticized her parents. Two years later, she sat down with King and took back everything she had said about her family. Clary said that despite everything, her family gave her the support she needed to recover:
“They were so supportive. They never gave up, they never did. I’m so thankful that I had that [support system] because I needed him more than anything in life. If you’re coming out of something traumatic, more than you want to breathe, you need support.”
Azriel has found another support system in The Blueprint Group, which manages and distributes his music. She said REVOLT:
“My creative process has improved a lot, actually. I have had the privilege of meeting and working with so many wonderful people. It’s about finding your tribe and people who really want to elevate you and your craft.”
Clary said that R. Kelly coached her on what to say when defending him.
Clary told Gayle King in 2021 that Kelly told her to fake anger during her 2019 interview. She continued:
“Before that interview, you know, he had us practicing every day. Answering questions. … And if she didn’t like our answers, she would tell us exactly what to say and how to say it.”
She said Kelly forbade them from talking about anything sexual. According to Clary, Kelly was triumphant after her interview and she told Clary and Savage that they did “unbelievable”.
“I think he even got food and wanted to celebrate. That’s how happy she was with that interview,” Clary said.
However, after that public defense of an indefensible man, something ‘shifted’ in Clary. She told Gayle that she realized that she couldn’t be in love with a man who had put her through such a harrowing experience. Clary said:
“’Why am I subjecting myself to all this misery? Why am I exploiting myself for a man who has me in this position in the first place?’ And I really had to come to terms and, you know, realize that it wasn’t love. Love doesn’t hurt, you know?
Azriel left Kelly’s facility seven months after the interview and returned to her family.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn