After R.Kelly Get Convicted, Will His Music Face Consequences Next?

[RAMROD 109,592]

Will a criminal conviction do to R. Kelly’s music what years of ugly allegations couldn’t?

It’s unlikely that Monday’s moment of justice — when a federal jury in New York found the 54-year-old R&B superstar guilty of all nine counts in a sex trafficking trial — will mean much for his fans, given all the awful things they had learned already, some observers say.

“The lines have already been drawn,” said Jem Aswad, deputy music editor for the trade publication Variety, who has been covering R. Kelly for 20 years. “The people that are going to listen to R. Kelly’s music are still listening to it. I don’t think a guilty verdict is going to change their minds.”

Still, advocates hope the criminal conviction brings a moral reckoning.

Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, understands how irresistible the music of R. Kelly can be for people who grooved to songs like “Ignition,” but said, “People should just have a second thought about the message that it sends.”

“This generation is very clear about who R. Kelly is, right? These young people have come up with the information that this person is a perpetrator, right?” Burke said. “And if we can’t push past our personal likes and desires to dance to a song for the sake of sending a message to these little girls and little boys, at some point I’m just going to draw a line.

“I don’t want to support somebody who will cause this kind of harm in my community. I just urge people to think about that,” she continued. “Is it really worth it?”

Kelly had long managed to avoid professional consequences amid decades of reports of sexual abuse of young women and children, from his illegal marriage to R&B phenom Aaliyah in 1994, when she was just 15, to a 2002 arrest in which he was accused of recording himself sexually abusing and urinating on a 14-year-old girl.

The people he has worked with are a who’s who of popular music, among them Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Quincy Jones, Toni Braxton and Janet Jackson.

His popularity took a hit as allegations mounted in the past five years. His last three songs to chart on Billboard’s Hot 100 peaked in 2013, including a duet with Lady Gaga called “Do What U Want” and “PYD” with Justin Bieber. He hasn’t had a hit reach the Hot 100 since then, despite releasing two albums and several singles. He has had more success on other charts.

According to MRC Data, formerly Nielsen Music, a data provider that powers Billboard’s charts, Kelly’s airplay spins and audience dropped significantly between 2017 and 2021, and digital sales followed a similar pattern.

However, his streaming on-demand numbers have remained about the same, averaging more than 6 million per week for most of 2021.

A group of fans who continue to back him blasted his music outside the courthouse Monday, with one shouting, “We’re not giving up on R. Kelly!”

Kelly’s audience is also aging, and he’s unlikely to make any new music, with a long prison sentence a possibility and more prosecutions awaiting in other states.

It could be that time alone may do what convictions, allegations and boycotts couldn’t.

 

 

Source:

https://apnews.com/article/r-kelly-entertainment-music-arts-and-entertainment-new-york-14d323f3a77028131814100e3fe6fc6b

[MANiCURE 6 10,295]

I guess everything will stay as it is since they can't prohibit people to listen to his music, US is not China.

[RAMROD 109,592]

Just now, MANiCURE 6 said:

, US is not China.

 

For the better

[Guest]

Yes please. And then Dr. Luke next!

[FentyGa 14,340]

24 minutes ago, Yennefer Stark said:

Yes please. And then Dr. Luke next!

as much as i hate luke, he’s just a producer/co-writer. which would mean that many artists would have significant chunks of their work missing. from katy perry, p!nk, kelly clarkson, and miley cyrus, to even kesha, his victim.

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, FentyGa said:

as much as i hate luke, he’s just a producer/co-writer. which would mean that many artists would have significant chunks of their work missing. from katy perry, p!nk, kelly clarkson, and miley cyrus, to even kesha, his victim.

He also has multiple people signed to his record label. Which means he is staying on the low while still making millions – all these amazing artists you mentioned have other songs that keep their pockets full, so I am sure they would be fine. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, RAMROD said:

“The people that are going to listen to R. Kelly’s music are still listening to it. I don’t think a guilty verdict is going to change their minds.”

Exactly, no way in hell I could stop listening to his songs, sorry guys, it is what it is. It's just too good. I bet they'll ban his youtube channel tho, i got ad block so he gets no revenue from me 

[Teletubby 149,631]

5 hours ago, FentyGa said:

as much as i hate luke, he’s just a producer/co-writer. which would mean that many artists would have significant chunks of their work missing. from katy perry, p!nk, kelly clarkson, and miley cyrus, to even kesha, his victim.

he also owns Prescription Songs which employs other songwriters, these songwriters are everywhere, even Chromatica (Plastic Doll) has Prescription Songs in credits

[FentyGa 14,340]

5 hours ago, Teletubby said:

he also owns Prescription Songs which employs other songwriters, these songwriters are everywhere, even Chromatica (Plastic Doll) has Prescription Songs in credits

i mean, i do believe he should be imprisoned (and therefore unable to own a company), but to remove his past work, which is predominantly the work of other artists, would do more harm than good

[phantasmas 10,581]

His music already is facing consequences. Will that stop people from listening to him? Sadly, no.