Buku Abi, the daughter of the disgraced former R&B star, revealed that she suffered mental health issues after she was molested by her father when she was between 8 and 9 years old. The incident led her to attempt taking her life multiple times in the past and she had had to stay in a psychiatric facility.
Now 26 years old, she made the revelation in a TVEI Network docuseries R. Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey, where she alleged that at first, she didn’t want to believe it happened. When she finally came to terms with what happened, it changed her life completely.
Here is everything worth knowing about Buku Abi.
Buku Abi is the oldest child of R Kelly
Born Joann Kelly, Buku is the oldest daughter of the infamous singer. She was born in 1998 to R Kelly and Andrea Kelly, two years after her parents got married.
Buku has two younger siblings, Jaa Kelly, who was born in 2000, and Robert Jr, who was born in 2002.
She loved her dad when she was a child until he started molesting her
Abi revealed that when she was a little girl, her dad meant the world to her but things changed when she was around 8 or 9. In the documentary, she revealed that the night that changed everything was when her father threw a party at home.
Instead of going to her room to sleep, she decided to stay in the office so that she could be closer to him and what was going on. According to her, all she could remember was waking up to her father touching her. She said she was unsure of what to do, and so she pretended to still be asleep while he continued.
For a long time, she bottled the episode and tried not to talk about it but it became too much for her to handle so she reported it to her mother in 2009 when she was 10 years old. The discovery broke Drea’s heart. Sadly, R Kelly could not be prosecuted because it was claimed that she waited too long to speak.
See Also: R. Kelly’s Children, Their Mothers, And Relationship With Him
How she became suicidal
Buku Abi became suicidal after what had happened to her. This made her cut her wrists. fortunately, her mom got to see it one day when they went to Target and it was at that point, that Andrea confronted her daughter who told her what had happened to her. Abi stated that her suicidal thoughts left her with so much guilt because of the way it impacted her younger siblings.
According to her younger brother, Robert Kelly Jr., the episodes when his sister tried to harm herself were very scary but now that she is older, it has reduced significantly. However, he said he continues to be scared for his sisters and mom because he doesn’t know what could be the last straw for them all.
R Kelly, who is still serving time for child pornography, enticement of minors for sex, conviction of racketeering, and sex trafficking charges, has come out through his attorney, Jennifer Bonjean to deny the accusation that the singer molested his daughter.
She is a musician
Born to a musician father and a dancer mother, Buku Abi is also following the entertainment path of her parents as a singer. In 2022, it was announced that she was signed to the Mann Robinson Studios LLC and she was having a new album on the way.
Even though she had always known that she was an artistic child who was drawn to music, she never considered having a career as a musician until the early to mid-2010s.
She revealed that breaking into the industry has been very difficult for her looking at the success of her father as a music star. Her other siblings are also into the music business with her younger sister being a producer. The siblings write their songs together and they rehearse.
Joann Kelly chose the name Buku Abi as her stage name because she wants to pursue music on her own and not just as R Kelly’s daughter.
Some of Buku Abi’s known songs are Dear Daisy and Reflection.
Buku Abi is now a mother
Although it is not clear whether Abi is now married or not, what is no secret is that she is now a mother. She has a son, Omni, who is now 13 months old. She has not revealed the circumstances behind his birth and who his father might be, but she made it known that before then, she had suffered a miscarriage in the past.
In spite of what her father did to her and others, Joann Kelly said she would make sure the name, Kelly, becomes a thing of pride for her son.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
