R. Kelly’s Music Sales Increased 500% After Sex Trafficking Conviction

By Maximillian Boudreaux Published: October 11, 2021

R. Kelly’s Music Sales Increased 500% After Sex Trafficking Conviction

In this Friday, March 22, 2019 file photo, R. Kelly appears for a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago, Illinois. Dubai’s government on Sunday forcefully denied a claim by R&B singer R. Kelly that the artist had planned concerts in the sheikhdom after he had sought permission from an Illinois judge to travel here despite facing sexual-abuse charges. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune via AP, Pool, File

In Summary

R. Kelly’s music has suddenly seen a rise in the sales despite a guilty conviction for racketeering, kidnapping and sexual exploitation last month.

WARNING- This story contains details of sexual violence. Resources for those triggered by this coverage are available here.

Despite recent convictions on sex trafficking and racketeering, sales for singer R. Kelly’s music have jumped 500%, Rolling Stone magazine reported.

His music streams rose from 11.2 million to 13.4 million since he was convicted on Sept. 27. The singer’s albums sales soared 517%, his on-demand audio streams grew 22% and his video streams jumped up 23%.

R. Kelly has been marred in controversy for decades after claims that he’s sexually assaulted young Black women and girls, married the late R&B singer Aaliyah when she was 15-years old or after victims came forward to claim that Kelly ran a “sex cult,” Rolling Stone reported.

YouTube has since deleted both of Kelly’s channels for not following company guidelines that allows the site to “terminate a creator’s channels if they’re accused of a very egregious crime” or “should the creator be convicted or plead guilty.”

According to Rolling Stone, it isn’t uncommon to see a sudden surge in an artist’s music while they’re entangled in a controversy. Earlier this year country singer Morgan Wallen album went up in 1,220% in sales after the artist used a racial slur.

For now, Kelly will continue to pocket the money from sales and streams while he awaits sentencing for his crimes, which is scheduled for May 4, 2022.