Last month, R. Kelly was convicted of nine counts of racketeering and sex trafficking charges and is still facing a minimum of 10 years in federal prison.
R. Kelly is responsible for creating some of the most loved RnB tracks of the past few decades, yet many former fans of the disgraced singer are refusing to listen to his music. However, it appears that there are still considerable numbers of people willing to put the art above the artist and continue to buy and stream the disgraced singer’s songs. According to Rolling Stone, Kelly’s album sales and streams have soared in the weeks since his conviction.
Rolling Stone report:
“Kelly’s music saw double-digit growth in streams and a triple-digit growth in sales. From September 27th through October 3rd, Kelly’s on-demand audio streams were up 22 percent, while video streams were up 23 percent compared to the previous seven days. All told, his streams jumped from 11.2 million to 13.4 million. His album sales were up 517 percent.”
Artists often experience such spikes in popularity in the midst of public scandals. Following the release of the “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary in 2019, there was an even more significant surge in popularity for on-demand streams of his music. However, radio play plunged dramatically.
YouTube has taken a stance against the Chicago native. They have suspended two accounts connected to R Kelly – RKellyTV and RKellyVevo though his music is still available to stream on YouTube music.
A YouTube spokesperson confirmed, “We can confirm that we have terminated two channels linked to R. Kelly in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines.”
Additionally, R. Kelly faces federal charges in Illinois and is charged with state crimes in Illinois and Minnesota.