Trapped with the Isley Brothers?

The other night Pam and I were going to study for Japanese Class, and we got in to a discussion about the Isley Brothers. I was under the impression that R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet was basically a rip off of earlier work done by the Isley Brothers, and not in fact a totally original thing that would revolutionize the world as Robert had indicated in the DVD commentary.

I would like to share my findings with everyone so that the record can be set straight.

The only recurring figure in the Isley Brother’s videos is “Mr. Biggs”. I’ve only been able to find that character in 4 videos. He first appears in the video for R. Kelly’s song “Down Low”.

In this video Kelly makes sweet love to Biggs’ girl Lala, even after Bigg’s tells Kelly that Lala means everything to him. At the end of the video, Bigg’s busts him with his woman, takes him to the desert and drags him through the dirt. The viewers are left with many questions. How does Kelly know Biggs? What is the history between Lala and Biggs? Why did Biggs only need “say a half a minute” at the beginning of the video?