ON THE WIRE UPDATED 03/04/02

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Chicago police investigate R. Kelly

Just as full-scale promotion begins for Jay-Z and R. Kelly's upcoming full-length collaboration, Kelly finds himself in a position to be singing the chorus of the duo's previous single, "Guilty Until Proven Innocent," all over again. This time, though, with Jigga's legal troubles behind him, the words "not guilty" would be used in Kelly's own defense. Kelly, who performed during the opening ceremonies at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City on Friday, is being investigated by Chicago police in connection with a videotape that was sent to the Chicago Sun-Times last week. The 26-minute tape allegedly shows Kelly performing various sex acts with an underage girl. Kelly, who is 35, and his attorney both denied the accusations. "It's not true," Kelly told Chicago's WMAQ-TV before his Olympic performance. "All I know is this: I have a few people in the past that I've fired... people that I've thought were my friends that's not my friends. It's crap, and that's how we're going to treat it." The girl in the video is now 17, but an aunt contacted by the newspaper said that she would have been 14 at the time the tape was made. Audio from a television that was on in the room also suggests that the tape was made in late 1998 or early 1999, based on music videos that were introduced as "new" on the channel the TV was tuned to. Kelly apparently is clearly seen in the video because he adjusts the camera angle several times, and he also calls the girl by name. Police have been investigating Kelly's relationship with the girl for three years, but were unable to build a case because everyone involved -- including the girl's parents -- denied that she and Kelly were having sex. With the video in hand, police officials said it is possible that charges will be filed. This is not the first time Kelly has been accused of having relationships with underage girls. He briefly was married to the late Aaliyah when she was 15 and one of his proteges, and he has been sued twice by Chicago women who both claim that he forced them to participate in group sex with other underage girls. Back on the album front, two tracks -- "Take You Home (Body)" and "Get This Money" -- from Kelly and Jay-Z's The Best of Both Worlds were released exclusively on AOL over the weekend. Both will be released to radio stations Tuesday as singles. The album is scheduled to hit stores March 26.

P. Diddy opens trading on NYSE

Sean "P. Diddy" Combs rang the the opening bell Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange. P. Diddy, who was there representing his Sean John clothing line, was joined by NYSE chairman Richard Grasso and Federated Department Stores president Terry Lundgren. Afterward, Puffy walked the floor and signed autographs for traders. At first it looked as if the Bad Boy Entertainment CEO might be a good luck charm for the stock exchange as trading was up for the first time in four days, but ultimately the Dow fell for a fifth straight session. It was the latest in a string of high profile appearances for Diddy, who has also hosted the American Music Awards and filled in for Regis Philbin on "Live with Regis & Kelly" in recent weeks, which is amazing considering where he was less than a year ago -- in the middle of one of the most publicized trials of 2001. Puff Daddy was acquitted last March of weapons possession and bribery charges in connection with a December 1999 shooting at a New York nightclub.

Nelly honored by state of Missouri

Nelly was honored Tuesday by Gov. Bob Holden and the Missouri House of Representatives for his efforts to improve participation in standardized tests by high school students in the state. Nelly and the St. Lunatics have promised to play basketball against any high school that increases the number of students that take the tests. While the appearance at the Capitol caused quite a buzz and led the Missouri State Highway Patrol to send almost 30 troopers for crowd control, not everyone in the House was in support of the gesture. One state representative printed out copies of Nelly's lyrics that he found on the Internet and distributed them in protest. "Here we are honoring a man for his contribution to the education of our kids, but if you read his lyrics he is talking about promiscuous sex, crystal meth, snorting cocaine. These are the kinds of things you want your kids to hear?" Rep. Charles Portwood said, according to the Associated Press. "If it demeans our society, it's wrong." However, Nelly brushed off the criticism. "Hip-hop has run into a lot of resistance, period," he said. "We are the voice of the youth. Any time you are the voice of the youth, you run into resistance."

Top 9 albums stay put

The top 9 albums on the Billboard 200 will not change for next week's chart, meaning that Ludacris, Ja Rule and Nas will stay put. Ludacris' Word of Mouf sold 86,000 copies to remain the leader among hip-hop albums at No. 4. Ja Rule's Pain Is Love moved 68,000 units to hold at No. 6, while Nas' Stillmatic was right behind it at No. 7 with 66,000 copies sold. The lone new entry in next week's top 10 will be a repackaged version of Mary J. Blige's No More Drama. The soundtrack to Beanie Sigel and Jay-Z's new movie, "State Property," will be next week's highest debut, selling 52,000 copies to check in at No. 14.

Nelly will perform at Grammys

No matter who wins the hip-hop awards later this month at the Grammy Awards, Nelly will be taking the stage. The St. Lunatic has been added to the list of performers at the 44th annual tribute to music, which will take place Feb. 27 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Nelly's "Ride Wit Me" will compete against Jay-Z's "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)," DMX's "Who We Be," Missy Elliott's "Get Ur Freak On" and Afroman's "Because I Got High" in the Rap Solo Performance category at the show. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences announced last month that Outkast was nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Rap Album.