R. Kelly has a new album ready to go and is on the hunt for a label, according to anonymous sources who spoke to Billboard.
The magazine reports that the troubled singer is hoping to release an album ASAP, in spite of the negative feedback he's recieved since Lifetime shared its six-part series Surviving R. Kelly, detailing claims of a long-standing pattern of sexual abuse and manipulation. The outcry over the resurgance of the allegations that have dogged the singer for years led to several music industry A-listers distancing themselves from Kelly and their collaborations with him. Eventually, Kelly's label responded by dropping the singer from his recording contract.
An unnamed source who spoke with Billboard said that Kelly had been seeking a new distributor since well before Surviving R. Kelly was released. The story floated the idea of uploading the album directly to streaming services without a label, but this seems like an impossibility. While Spotify has teased the ability to bypass labels and upload music directly, the streaming giant told the magazine that the feature is still in testing and is currently unavailable to Kelly.
While an entire cloud of allegations hangs over the singer's head, one case against Kelly was recently put to bed. According to TMZ, Kelly will not face charges in a sexual assault case filed against him by Faith Rodgers.
While Rodgers accused Kelly of assaulting her in a Long Island hotel room, Suffolk County investigators found it "unprosecutable due to a lack of criminality," citing a police report in which Rodgers said that they had sex "without any verbal or physical resistance." Rodgers still has a civil lawsuit against Kelly.
