The world breathed a sigh of relief when R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison back in June.
The singer had been convicted on charges related to the rape and trafficking of dozens of female victims, many of whom were underage.
Several victims bravely testified in court, likely in the hope that they would never have to see their tormentor’s face again.
So you can imagine their horror upon learning today that Kelly had somehow released a new album that was available for streaming on Spotify.
Adding to the shock of the situation is the fact that the project was titled I Admit It, seemingly a macabre reference to the many, many allegations against Kelly.
The album features a track entitled “I Admit It (I Did It),” in which the singer justifies his actions and dismisses the allegations against him.
“I done f–ked with a couple of fans,” Kelly raps at one point.
“How they gon’ say I don’t respect these women when all I’ve done is represent,” Kelly continiues.
From there, the convicted sex offender seems to accuse his critics of jealousy, singing that the public is “mad I’ve got some girlfriends.”
Believe it or not, it gets worse from there.
The album — which appeared on Spotify and other streaming platforms today with no forewarning — features a 15-minute song in which Kelly appears to blame his victims’ parents for his crimes.
“And if you really, really wanna know. Her father dropped her off at my show,” Kelly sings.
“And told this boy to put her on the stage. I admit that she was overage.”
Spotify reps say they have no idea how a new album appeared on Kelly’s artist page, as he’s been banned from the service since 2018.
“This content has been removed from the platform at the request of the distributor,” the company said in a statement issued today.
Indeed, the album is no longer available on Spotify, Apple Music, or any other major streaming outlet.
Representatives for Sony Music, Kelly’s former label, have also claimed ignorance of the project.
Insiders say the collection of songs was a bootleg, and was never intended to be an official album.
Some of the songs date back to 2018, but this is the first time that they’ve been packaged together in this way.
According to Kelly attorney Jennifer Bonjean, the singer’s camp is not behind the release and he “is having intellectual property stolen from him.”
Hopefully Kelly and company aren’t expecting too much sympathy from the public on this one.
And hopefully, Spotify and other services will introduce safeguards to prevent something like this from happening again.
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