R. Kelly debuts
his 'Trapped' sequels

R. Kelly's closet is getting bigger--and more bizarre. The singer premiered the sequel to his twisted and craftily campy Trapped in the Closet video serial with a red-carpet extravaganza in New York City on Wednesday night.

''Don't ask me to explain it,'' Kelly told the audience before the videos aired. ''I don't know how to explain how I wrote it.''

It might be hard for anyone to explain Kelly's ghetto soap opera, which includes a gay pastor, cheating spouses, a convict named Twon and a well-endowed midget. In the new episodes--chapters 13 through 22, for those keeping count--he adds an old reverend, ex-con lesbians and a stuttering pimp, played by Kelly himself.

''I call it an alien,'' Kelly said of his tour-de-farce.

The ''alien'' first appeared in 2005, when the singer-songwriter premiered Trapped in the Closet, a five-part song series that kicked off with a man hiding in his paramour's closet as her husband comes in; each song ended with a cliffhanger.

Soon afterward, Kelly released a DVD video of the series, adding seven more chapters--and with each chapter, the plot got weirder. But despite--or perhaps because--of its Jerry Springer-like appeal, it has become a cult classic.

Kelly's upcoming September trial on child pornography charges haven't dampened anticipation for the next installment of Trapped. Parts of the new series have been premiering on Independent Film Channel's Web site since Monday; the DVD with the complete series hits stores on Tuesday. The IFC will show them in their entirety in September.

Like the chapters before it, the 22nd chapter ends with a cliffhanger too. Does that mean there are more chapters to come? Kelly says he's not sure when the series will be done, but says it will finish ''when the aliens decide to leave.'' (AP)