R. Kelly. Source: Bob Berg / Getty
We were all shocked when a new album from R.Kelly titled I Admit It appeared on streaming services. It turns out that he was too. His lawyer Jennifer Bonjean confirmed that this was not an official, authorized release of new music from Sony Records.
“It’s an unauthorized release of music. It’s stolen music,” Bonjean told The Hollywood Reporter.
Bonjean also told Variety that someone has stolen intellectual property from Kelly.
A representative from Sony Records, who owns most of the Pied Piper’s catalog, said that the album was not an official release as well. If you were hoping to lend your ear to the 13-track effort, you missed your chance because it’s been snatched off of all steaming platforms.
“This content has been removed from the platform at the request of the distributor,” a Spotify spokesperson told Variety.
R. Kelly also spoke from prison and said releasing music right now is not a priority as he focuses on his appeal.
“It seems like somebody wants this album out to mess with the appeal because why would I put out an album called I Admit It?,” he said in audio obtained by TMZ.
Even though it was listed as a release from Legacy Records, which is under Sony, the album was actually released by Real Talk Entertainment. R. Kelly was dropped from Sony in 2019, so it is possible that they don’t have any rights to the music on this now-deleted project. It’s unclear how or if Real Talk Entertainment acquired rights to even release the I Admit It album.
R. Kelly’s Masters Were Stolen, Jennifer Bonjean Says
Jennifer Bonjean said that R. Kelly’s master recordings were stolen but the incident wasn’t fully investigated.
“A police report was filed some time ago because his masters were stolen, but there’s not much of an appetite to investigate these things,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “People have had access to his intellectual property rights that they are attempting to profit off of, but unfortunately that does not include Mr. Kelly.”
She claimed that once he got arrested in 2019, his music and equipment were stolen.
“When he was arrested, he had studio equipment that was taken,” she continued. “His masters are missing. The music is somewhere out there, but who has it and who has profited off it — we don’t know entirely.”
Bonjean said R. Kelly was surprised that there was an unauthorized release of his music but wasn’t happy about it.
“He kind of is like, ‘Yeah, this has been going on. I’m not surprised,’” Bonjean said. “But, of course, it’s upsetting. It’s very upsetting to see your body of work out there in that way.”
