In this file photo, singer R. Kelly is seen at the Daley Center in Chicago for a child support hearing on March 13, 2019. (Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
R. Kelly isn’t kissing his music career goodbye just yet–despite a 30-year conviction and looming trials. The singer silently released a 13-track album called I Admit It on Friday (Dec. 9).
It’s unclear if majority of the album is never-heard-before music, but its last three tracks, I Admit It (I Did It) parts 1-3, are definitely from 2018. Kelly allegedly released the 19-minute version on SoundCloud.
In the song, he admits to having “flaws” and committing “mistakes.” However, Kelly says people turned his career “upside down” because he has girlfriends. He also admitted to engaging with younger and older ladies and sang about his childhood traumas and abuse.
The following lyrics were included in I Admit It (I Did It) Part 2.
“I admit I f**k with all the ladies, that’s, both older and younger ladies, but tell me how they call it pedophile because that sh*t that’s crazy. You may have your opinions entitled to your opinions…,” Kelly said.
TMZ previously reported that Friday was the first time the 19-minute track has appeared on Spotify or Apple. Spotify banned Kelly in 2018 as he faced accusations of keeping Joycelyn Savage, Azriel Clary, and other women hostage.
But the album didn’t live long on either platform, without notice or statement, both Spotify and Apple pulled I Admit It from their platforms as of Friday afternoon (eastern time).
Sony Music tells TMZ that I Admit It is not a Legacy Recordings release, as stated in the album credits. Sony says it’s unsure who released the album and how.
Meanwhile, social media seems to be hurling stones at R. Kelly for releasing new music. Perhaps, it’s his way of trying to earn the $300,000 in restitution the court awarded to two of his victims. He’s been claiming he’s broke for years.
The drop is another bombshell involving the infamous R&B singer in the last year. In June, a Brooklyn judge sentenced Kelly to 30 years in prison after being convicted on nine counts in a sex trafficking case in September 2021.
“These crimes were calculated and carefully planned and regularly executed for almost 25 years,” Judge Ann Donnelly said at Kelly’s sentencing. “You taught them love is enslavement and violence.”
Then in September 2022, he was found guilty of three counts of child pornography after filming himself having sex with his goddaughter when she was 14 years old. He was also found guilty of three counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity, one for his goddaughter and two for two minor girls, per CBS News.
Kelly is still awaiting trial a trial for charges brought from Cook County, Illinois. Prosecutors charged Kelly with sexual assault and abuse toward four women, three of whom were underage at the time of the incident.
Officials in Minnesota have also charged Kelly with soliciting a minor for prostitution.
