Newswire R. Kelly dishes on throat surgery, that Trey Songz beef, and the new album Black Panties

It’s been a rough year for R&B sexasaurus R. Kelly. First, his mansion in suburban Olympia Fields, Illinois—not to be confused with his Space Jam’d Chicago mansion—faced foreclosure. Then, a week later, Kelly was hospitalized and underwent throat surgery, thanks to an abscess on his tonsils. Recuperated and ready to bump ’n’ grind once more, the singer swung by Chicago hip-hop radio station WGCI, after a two-week trip to Africa, to let the world know he’s alive and well. He even took the high, meaty road while responding to some critical comments he’s faced from fellow crooner Trey Songz.

• On his throat surgery: “I thought I had a cold, but, man, I had like a cyst as big as a golf ball on my tonsils. The doctors though, they cut it out; they took care of me really good.”
• On Songz’ comments about Kelly’s use of Auto-Tune: “I don’t feel those type of things. It’s like I’m bulletproof when it comes to beef. I don’t deal with beef; I love steak.”
• On his new album, titled Black Panties (because apparently Let’s Fuck was too blatant even for Kelly): “I'm on Mission: Benjamin Button. I'm turning back the clock ... it’s the new 12 Play.” He later tells a story about a pair of black panties, thrown from the crowd, that landed on his arm during a recent show that he took as "a sign" and, thus, the title. 
• On that house foreclosure: "I'm selling my house. What sense does it make for a guy to stay in that size house? It's a money furnace."
• On the struggles of President Obama, for whom he wrote a song during the 2008 election: "It's like crabs in a barrel; everyone's tryin' to pull you down."

He also dropped a few vague details about the new album, saying the first single will be the track “10 Minutes,” which will not have anything to do with coitus—nope, not at all—and is simply “coming soon.” No word on a release date for Black Panties either. Listen to the whole interview at WGCI’s website.