Despite R. Kelly currently serving a 30-year prison sentence, a 13-track set by the R&B singer was released Friday and later removed from Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services.
Representatives for Sony Music, which owns the majority of Kelly’s catalog, said the album is a bootleg, or an unofficial release, Variety reported.
Jennifer Bonjean, an attorney for Kelly, also confirmed to the outlet that the release was not authorized, saying the singer “is having intellectual property stolen from him.”
Representatives for Sony Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and Kelly did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News’ requests for comment.
R. Kelly was found guilty last year of multiple charges in New York related to sexual misconduct and racketeering in New York. The Grammy-winning singer was later convicted of producing child sexual abuse materials and other sex crimes in a second Chicago trial.
The album featured songs titled “Last Man Standing,” “Where’s Love When You Need It,” “I Got It,” “Freaky Sensation,” and “Good Old Days.” It shares the same title, I Admit It, as a 19-minute track the singer released in 2019. But despite the implication, he denied all the sexual misconduct allegations against him in that song.
Attention on the allegations against Kelly escalated after Lifetime released its Emmy-nominated docuseries Surviving R. Kelly on Jan. 3, 2019. Sony and RCA Records dropped the artist soon after.
