R. Kelly has an incurable illness, however it’s not an sickness you’d anticipate, like most cancers or AIDS, the imprisoned R&B star confessed throughout a candid interview from behind bars on the Inmate Tea with A&P podcast.
“Effectively singing is an attractive illness that’s uncurable, that’s not going to occur cease singing, proper? I don’t care the place I’m at lengthy I’m alive, so I’m all the time singing, I’m all the time writing.”
Whereas jail partitions confine his physique, Kelly’s ardour for music continues to thrive, fueling creativity that flows unchecked, even from behind bars.
“I’ve written like 25 albums since I’ve been in right here,” R. Kelly advised the podcast. And regardless of a prolonged jail sentence, there may be nonetheless an enormous demand for the music R. Kelly is writing.
As of early 2025, his Spotify catalog surpassed a staggering 3 billion whole streams, averaging greater than 782,000 listens day by day. With a sturdy assortment of 391 tracks on the platform—together with 234 solo songs—the R&B legend’s#### “Ignition” alone amassed over 645 million streams, pulling in roughly 101,872 performs per day.
The regular stream of royalties has translated straight into real-world monetary positive aspects, permitting Kelly to chip away at hefty authorized judgments.
In December 2024, income from Kelly’s intensive music catalog efficiently coated a $500,000 federal judgment, together with $379,649.90 particularly for restitution funds.
“I thanks guys for persevering with to imagine clearly in me and assist my music, assist who I’m as an artist, and you already know, I actually do recognize that,” R. Kelly mentioned of the continued assist, which has enabled him to earn a large earnings even whereas incarcerated.
R. Kelly’s authorized troubles, nevertheless, stay extreme.
Initially sentenced on June 29, 2022, to 30 years in jail for racketeering and intercourse trafficking in New York, R. Kelly later obtained an extra 20-year sentence in Chicago on little one pornography and enticement prices on Feb. 23, 2023.
Nineteen of these years run concurrently along with his unique sentence, including only one extra yr to his incarceration.
Final month, a federal appeals court docket upheld Kelly’s earlier convictions and the 30-year sentence from the New York trial, confirming he’ll stay incarcerated doubtlessly into his mid-80s.
Regardless of the current authorized setbacks, Kelly stays optimistic about his future.
“Proper now, I’m simply engaged on getting out, getting again to what it’s God gave me my expertise to do, proper? That’s what I’m ready on proper now, that’s what I’m engaged on proper now.”
