R Kelly has said he’s written 25 albums and has continued singing and making music while in prison.
The disgraced singer was found guilty of six of 13 counts of owning and producing child pornography and enticing a minor back in September 2022. He was also found guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking in 2021. R Kelly is serving 31 years in prison.
The singer recently appeared on an Inmate Tea with A&P podcast episode, where he was asked if he’s continued his music practice while incarcerated.
“Well, singing is a beautiful disease that’s incurable,” he said. “That’s not gonna happen, stopping singing. I don’t care where I’m at. I’m always singing, I’m always writing. I’ve written, like, 25 albums since I been in here, and right now I’m just working on getting out…I’m using patience as a tactic right now.”
During the episode, he also sang his tracks ‘When a Woman’s Fed Up’ and ‘Step in the Name of Love’.
In October 2024, R Kelly’s daughter Buku Abi came forward about the alleged sexual abuse she suffered during her childhood.
In the first episode of R Kelly’s Karma: A Daughter’s Journey, Abi alleges the singer abused her as a child. “He was my everything. For a long time, I didn’t even want to believe that it happened,” Abi said in the first episode of the two-part series, per People.
“I didn’t know that even if he was a bad person, that he would do something to me. I was too scared to tell anybody,” she added. “I was too scared to tell my mom.”
In further episodes, she recalls “waking up to him touching me”, and then said she went to her mother and then subsequently the police. They couldn’t prosecute him because I waited too long. So at that point in my life, I felt like I said something for nothing,” she said.
In a statement to People, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said Kelly “vehemently denies” the allegations.
“His ex-wife made the same allegation years ago, and it was investigated by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and was unfounded,” said Bonjean.
“And the ‘filmmakers,’ whoever they are, did not reach out to Mr. Kelly or his team to even allow him to deny these hurtful claims.”