Things are beginning to unravel for R. Kelly. After the success of Lifetime’s explosive documentary, Surviving R. Kelly, the disgraced singe been losing a lot of support from celebrity friends and a criminal investigation has been launched against him in Georgia. Now, his music label, RCA is reportedly putting a hold on releasing new music, TMZ reports.
Sources close to Kelly’s contract with RCA/Sony told TMZ that the label will not be producing any new tunes from the singer or putting any more money behind his projects until the criminal investigation in Georgia and the fallout surrounding the docuseries has been settled.
This is obviously not sitting well with R. Kelly, seeing how he’s reportedly been in the studio recording music to fulfill his two-album contract with the label. Insiders say he is particularly annoyed because RCA will not provide a budget for his new music videos.
The news comes shortly after fans launched a petition for RCA to drop the artist from its roster. While the petition and investigation likely played a part in RCA’s decision-making, the label is still in a tough spot. Although the #MuteRKelly movement is rapidly growing, if the label walks away from its contract with the singer without any criminal charges being filed, it could get sued. It’s unclear if there is a “moral clause” that could help the label around this dilemma however.
None of this is stopping R. Kelly though. In light of the label freeze, the singer has been releasing music on SoundCloud. His last singles, “I Admit” and “Born to Music” were both released on the platform.
RCA/Sony has not commented on this report.