Disgraced Singer R. Kelly Surprises Die-Hard Fans With New Album ‘I Did It’ From Behind Bars

R. Kelly new album just dropped. The disgraced singer just surprised his die-hard fans with an early Christmas gift. The R&B legend is currently behind bars, but somehow he managed to get a project off for fans who have held him down through his legal issues. The 13-song set titled I Admit It was released on Legacy Records with no big promotion and no features. It concludes with a three-part title track. 

R. Kelly has been away in jail since 2019. At the time, fans rallied for his arrest after realizing the singer’s history of misconduct had done nothing to derail his career. They launched the #MuteRKelly movement and got people to stop streaming his music, eventually leading to a Lifetime documentary and finally him being apprehended. Despite launching the #MuteRKelly movement, fans continued to listen to his music and still listens to his music today. R. Kelly is one of the most streamed R&B artists in 2022 with over 4.7 million monthly listeners. Kelly has been charged in both New York State and Illinois. 

Unable to tour or make any money off his music, fans of R. Kelly have tried to support him in other ways. They recently helped his 2013 song “Legs Shakin’” featuring Ludacris go viral on TikTok. Possibly as a thank you for their loyalty and continued support, R. Kelly dropped a new project today, repurposing an image from a previous album cycle. The songs are all credited to Robert Kelly and D. Johnson. 

On the title track, Kelly admits to everything but his charges, instead opening up about other bad choices that kept him around people who did not value him or his hard work. He admits to dropping out of school and having issues reading and writing, and he also admits to wanting to retire. He said he could not read the teleprompter when asked to present at the Grammys. The three-part song was over the same beat, with two versions being over 7 minutes long. In the second installment, he admits to opening up to Wendy Williams about Aaliyah and the infamous tape that dropped in the ’90s but does not confess to doing any wrong. Instead, he sings that he was “set up.” 

Fans on social media are eating the new project up, with many dissecting the tracks and what Kelly is saying. One person Tweeted, “In [“I Admit It”] part 2 he says he admits he [sleeps] w/ the younger ladies, but it being pedophilia is yall opinions, not fact. & he shouldn’t be in jail based on yall opinions.” Many are just confused at how Kelly was able to get out an album from jail. 

Representatives from Sony Music have already spoken to the press and dismissed the “new body of work” as a “bootleg.” Sony owns the rights to all of Robert’s music and claims that the release is not legitimate but did not provide any further details. Kelly’s lawyers claim that he is not behind the release and is the victim of having his intellectual property stolen. “I Admit It” was originally released in 2018 as a full 18-minute song meant to refute the accusations against him.

R. Kelly has silently dropped a new album, “I Admit It,” while locked up in prison. https://t.co/JKjJPUUtpD

— TMZ (@TMZ) December 9, 2022

Some of the songs on the “album” have been floating around online for at least 15 years, according to Variety. Expects predict the album will be pulled down before days end.