Jaya Kelly is the daughter of R. Kelly, the legendary R&B singer, and disgraced sex offender. R. Kelly’s daughter was born Jaah Kelly in 2000 and is presently a 24 year-old upcoming American singer and songwriter.
Jaya Kelly was born a biological female and realized that she wanted to transition to male as a child. She pursued the process in her teens but later dropped it altogether. Presently, Jaya Kelly no longer plans to transition to male and uses the she/her pronouns. She identifies as a lesbian and is fluid about her gender.
Summary of Jaya Kelly’s Bio
- Full name: Jaah Kelly, formerly Jay Kelly
- Nickname: Jaya Kelly
- Gender: undefined
- Date of birth: 2000
- Jaya Kelly’s Age: 24 years old
- Ethnicity: African-American
- Nationality: American
- Sexual Orientation: gay
- Marital Status: single
- Jaya Kelly’s Parents: R. Kelly and Andrea Kelly
- Siblings: Joann Kelly and Robert Jr
- Jaya Kelly’s Height in Inches: 5 feet 7
- Jaya Kelly’s Height in Centimeters: 165
- Jaya Kelly’s Weight: 52 kg
- Jaya Kelly’s Net worth: $1 million
- Famous for: R Kelly’s transgender daughter
Jaya Kelly is One of Three Children Born to R. Kelly and Ex-Wife Andrea
While it is hard to figure out Jaya Kelly’s exact date of birth, it is known that she was born in the year 2000, meaning that she is 24 years old. Her ethnicity is African American, while her nationality is American. Her place of birth is not exactly clear, but she grew up in places such as Illinois, California, and Atlanta as a result of the nature of her parents’ career.
Speaking of parents, Jaya Kelly’s dad is the famous or infamous R. Kelly. He is one of the greatest R&B singers ever and has sold 75 million records in the course of his career. He has multiple hit songs and awards to his name. R Kelly has been dogged by several allegations of rape and sexual abuse and is now serving long jail terms.
Jaya Kelly’s mother is R. Kelly’s ex-wife, Andrea Kelly. Andrea is a Chicago native and is a professional dancer and choreographer. She backed up R. Kelly for several years. She is also a media personality and has appeared as herself on several TV shows, TV series, and even a handful of movies.
She Has Two Siblings, Including an Elder Sister Named Joann
Jaya Kelly’s parents got to know each other as a result of their mutual involvement in the music industry. Andrea served as a backup dancer for R Kelly for some time, and they later went beyond friends to become lovers. They further took their romance to the next level by tying the knot in 1996. Andrea was 22 years old, while her groom was 29.
The couple’s marriage lasted for a decade, but it was fraught with allegations of physical and emotional abuse. They filed divorce papers, and it was finalized in 2009. The marriage, nevertheless, produced a total of three children, two of whom are Jaya’s siblings.
The first is an elder sister named Joann, who was born in 1998, which makes her two years older than Jaya. There is also Robert Jr., who is two years younger than Jaya, having been born in the year 2002. Jaya’s brother stays out of the spotlight, but her sister is firmly in it. She is a singer under the stage name Buku Abi.
Jaya Kelly Was Born a Biological Female But Came Out as a Trans Male at the Age of 14
Jaya Kelly was born a biological female, but as early as the age of 6 or 7, she realized that she was a boy or meant to be a boy and started using the he/him pronouns. She also started dressing accordingly and chose the name Jay Kelly. By the time she was 14, an anonymous person out rightly asked Jaya Kelly if she was Trans online, to which she replied in the affirmative.
R Kelly’s middle child revealed that she believes that she is a boy and that she knew that she was Trans as early as 6 or 7. She also stated that she had begun wearing a binder on her chest and wanted to get surgery. She also revealed her plans to take medications and hormones to help her be who she was “supposed to be”.
She Expressed Her Desire to Undergo Surgery But Later Abandoned It
Transitioning is defined as the process by which an individual begins to live as a member of another gender and includes changes to legal documents, gender confirmation surgery, alterations to physical appearance, name and pronoun changes, and hormone replacement therapy, among others.
Jaya Kelly commenced her pronoun changes when she was around 6 or 7 years old, and therefore, we can say she began transitioning around the age of 7. She attended pride events. She also wore a chest binder and dressed in atypical male clothes. Jaya Kelly also expressed her desire to undergo surgery at the age of 14, but this plan never materialized as she called it off.
Meanwhile, coming out as Trans wasn’t a walk in the park for her as she suffered from depression and had to spend about three weeks in a psychiatric hospital following her public coming out.
WE SEE YOU JAAH KELLY, AND WE LOVE YOU. #PRIDEhttps://t.co/dYPPpsoGAg pic.twitter.com/Ylt7CuZxIL
— Paper Magazine (@papermagazine) June 27, 2019
Jaya Kelly Now Identifies as a Lesbian and Uses the She/Her Pronouns
Jaya Kelly never underwent surgery to change her assigned gender. This move was motivated by some realization that she came to. She revealed in a 2019 interview that while growing up, she realized that she liked girls and thought that the only way she could be with another girl was to transition to a boy. She, however, realized that this didn’t have to be the case as she grew older and so decided to stop transitioning.
Jaya Kelly has dropped the name, Jay Kelly. She now goes by the she and her pronouns. She also identifies as a lesbian. She doesn’t want to put a label on her gender but is fluid about it, allowing people to come to whatever conclusions they wish. Some publications still refer to Jaya as R Kelly’s son in recent times, but this is mistaken as she doesn’t identify as trans male anymore.
Jaya Kelly’s Mom Supported Her But Her Dad Was Reportedly Displeased
When Jaya Kelly initially came out as Trans in 2014, some tabloids claimed that her family had rejected her, which was false. Jaya received love and support from her mom and siblings. Her mom expressly told her that she would always love her whether she was gay, bi, or lesbian. Her sister also joined her in attending pride events. Jaya’s family also used her desired pronouns in addressing her.
The only slight hiccup was Jaya Kelly’s famous dad. The singer dismissed her transition as just a tabloid rumor. This would have undoubtedly affected their relationship but the final blow has been dealt by R Kelly’s criminal trial. Jaya and her siblings have become estranged from their dad given all the nasty allegations against him.
Jaya Kelly is an Aspiring Singer and Rapper
Jaya Kelly is presently 24 years old now. This means that she may have completed college if she eventually chooses that route. Back in 2019, she expressed a desire to enroll in the music recording arts programs at higher-education institutions like Full Sail University. It is not known if she followed through on the plans.
As for her present occupation, Jaya Kelly is an upcoming singer, rapper, producer, and songwriter. Her genre straddles both hip-hop and R&B, and her vocal style has been compared to the likes of Missy Elliot and Destiny Child. She has dropped several tracks online and goes by the stage name Jaahbaby.
Most of the tracks that Jaya has released date back to 2021. She hasn’t released music recently. She also isn’t available on social media, which makes it hard to gauge what she is up to.
