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CHICAGO (FOX 32) - Until Thursday, R. Kelly's name had never surfaced in the court case involving his West Side recording studio.
A judge ordered the studio closed after 5 p.m. because of safety concerns and evidence people were sleeping there.
Now, R. Kelly himself is speaking out, saying that when he can't spend nights at his studio, his music and his income suffer.
“The creative process in the recording industry is not one that operates on banker’s hours,” said Melvin Sims, the attorney for R. Kelly. “Inspiration can't be governed by a 9-to-5 schedule.”
In a sworn affidavit, R. Kelly told Judge Patrice Ball-Reed that the hour’s restriction is hurting his career.
“The restriction of studio use is tantamount to a stop work order, which has impacted my music and my ability to make any money," R. Kelly wrote.
His attorneys also explained why a recording studio needed beds.
“If you record and you give your heart and soul for eight or nine hours, from 8 p.m. to 6 or 7 a.m., why should you then have to drive home in the middle of the morning and not then lay down?” said Sims.
City attorneys say inspectors visited the building just yesterday, and that there's still evidence it's being used for residential purposes, and that it still isn’t safe.”
“The recording studio was not built out properly,” said Kimberly Roberts, Deputy Corporation Counsel. “We have no evidence it's even safe to be used as a recording studio.”
Inspectors also say that bed, which was discovered in January, is still in the studio. Kelly's attorneys say removing that bed is not easy.
“The room that they are describing was a $30,000 upgrade,” said Sims. “And so it's not as if you’re breaking a lazy boy down. These things take operational time."
The judge says she'll review the new evidence, including Kelly’s affidavit, and make a ruling on Friday.