R. Kelly, disgraced R&B singer imprisoned for sex trafficking, releases new album

R. Kelly, the disgraced R&B singer currently serving a 30-year prison sentence on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges, has managed to release a new album, provocatively titled “I Admit It.”

The 13-song album, credited to Kelly as lead writer with “D. Johnson” as producer, covers Kelly's usual ground on tracks like “I Got It” and “Good Old Days” through the final three tracks. , a 19-minute triptych in which he “confesses” to his affairs with his fans and his waywardness with a partner, while obliquely acknowledging and protesting his long and sordid list of sex crime convictions.

“They're brainwashed, really? Kidnapped, really? They can't eat, really? Real words, it sounds stupid,” he sings on one song, referring to a testimony that he led what amounted to a sex cult.

Kelly first released a version of these final three album tracks on Soundcloud in 2018. “I Admit It” was briefly available for streaming on Apple Music and Spotify before both services pulled it on Friday. The album is distributed by Ingrooves, part of Virgin Music Group, a division of Universal Music Group.

The label credited on “I Admit It”, Legacy Recordings, is Sony Music's back-catalogue imprint. Sony dropped Kelly in 2019 following the release of the documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly.” Sony said in a statement that “I Admit It” was a bootleg and not an official release, and a lawyer for Kelly told Variety that the singer was also not responsible for the album and that he “regards was stealing his intellectual property. »

Kelly was a pop and R&B staple for much of the '90s and 2000s, releasing hit singles like “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Ignition (Remix)”, despite allegations of sexual assault and abuse of minors pursued him throughout his career. career until his eventual federal convictions in June. His last official release was the single “No Problems” in September 2021.

Kelly will face additional punishment for a child pornography conviction in Illinois in February.

This story was originally published in the Los Angeles Times.