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A mysterious R Kelly album was released and swiftly deleted by Spotify and Apple Music on Friday (9 December).
A 13-title album entitled I Admit It appeared on the platforms while the disgraced R&B artist remains behind bars serving a 30-year sentence for sexual misconduct-related charges.
Legacy Recordings, Sony Music’s catalogue division, was credited on the album, however, Sony representatives have told Variety that the album was a bootleg.
“This content has been removed from the platform at the request of the distributor,” a representative for Spotify told Variety.
Jennifer Bonjean, Kelly’s attorney, also told the publication that the singer’s camp is not behind the release and that he “is having intellectual property stolen from him”.
The singer was dropped by Sony after the famous 2019 documentary series Surviving R Kelly shone a light on the multiple sexual abuse allegations the singer faced.
(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
The bootlegged album was named after the 19-minute track “I Admit It,” which Kelly released in 2018 on SoundCloud.
Over the course of the lengthy track, the rapper discussed numerous topics, ranging from the sex cult allegations he faced, his illiteracy, and his own alleged history of being sexually abused.
“I admit I am not perfect / I never said I was perfect / Say I’m abusing these women / What the f**k, that’s some absurd sh*t,” Kelly raps on the song. “They brainwashed, really? / Kidnapped, really? / Can’t eat, really? / Real talk, that sounds silly.”
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Sign upWhile serving his 30-year sentence, a jury in Chicago found Kelly guilty of six additional sexual misconduct-related charges in September this year.
He was found guilty of coercing three minors into criminal sexual activity and producing three child sexual abuse videos.
Kelly was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking in September of the previous year in New York.
If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.
