The 'I Believe I Can Fly' hitmaker's streams are also up 22 percent in the week after he is convicted of racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child and kidnapping.
- October 9, 2021
AceShowbiz - R. Kelly may have fallen from grace after he was found guilty of racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child and kidnapping. However, following his guilty verdict, his streams and sales drastically went up.
After he was convicted on sex trafficking charges on September 27, the "Your Body's Callin'" hitmaker's music saw double-digit growth in streams and triple-digit growth in sales. The 54-year-old singer's album sales reportedly have jumped a surprising 517 percent.
From September 27 to October 3, Kelly's on-demand audio streams were also up 22 percent, while video streams were up 23 percent compared to the previous seven days. This means that his streams jumped from 11.2 million to 13.4 million.
For the past years, streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify "muted" Kelly's music by not including his songs on curated playlists due to his criminal records. Many artists also have decided to pull their Kelly collaborations from streaming, like Chance the Rapper, who removed "Somewhere in Paradise". This week, Jennifer Hudson's "Where You At", which was written and produced by Kelly, also seemed to disappear from streaming.
Kelly was found guilty on nine counts including racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child, kidnapping, bribery, sex trafficking and a violation of the Mann Act following a high-profile trial. The judge ordered that Kelly remains in custody pending sentencing, which is set for May 4, 2022.
Following the guilty verdict, acting U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn Kasulis told reporters, "We hope that today's verdict brings some measure of comfort and closure to the victims." Kelly's attorney Deveraux Cannick, meanwhile, said that the defense was disappointed. "I'm sure we'll be appealing," he stated.
After he was convicted on nine counts, Kelly sent a message via Twitter to maintain his innocence, before his account disappeared. In his last tweet, the disgraced singer said he was disappointed by the result of the trial and vowed that he would continue to fight for his freedom. "To all my fans and supporters I love you all and thank you for all the support," so he penned. "Today's verdict was disappointing and I will continue to prove my innocence and fight for my freedom. #notguilty."
Two of his YouTube channels have also been removed. Following his sex trafficking conviction, YouTube bosses have taken down RKellyTV and RKellyVevo, insisting the decision was "in accordance with our creator responsibility guidelines."
