If you thought the “Residuals” challenge was just about over, then it’s fair to say that R. Kelly may have put the nail in its proverbial coffin after creating —and releasing—his own freestyle from behind bars.
On Tuesday (Mar. 11), audio of Kelly’s cover surfaced and had fans and critics alike thinking it was AI-generated.
Over the Blaq Tuxedo and Eric Hudson instrumental, Kelly thanked his fans and addressed the lack of his own residuals. The freestyle opened with audio heard when you’re receiving a collect call. “First, I wanna thank my fans for being the realest/ Now let’s get down to business on this Breezy remix […] My music makin’ all this money/ Don’t even send s**t to my books for commissary,” he began.
On the chorus, Kelly questioned, “Tell me who, who’s getting all my checks? Where is my money at? Tell me who, who’s getting paid for my grind? All of that’s supposed to be mine.”
He indirectly called out the #MuteRKelly movement and the retraction of his former “King of R&B” title. “Who gave you 34 years? Who made you billions of dollars? Who put the ‘R’ in ‘R&B,’ swear that it’s killing me. Am I still making you holler? Dammit,” Kelly continued.
Society was immediately divided on how to feel about his sentiment. One person tweeted, “They really tryna soft launch R. Kelly back into the world. Why is he singing a Residuals Remix on a jail phone man.”
Another chimed in, “They praising R Kelly cause he sang Residuals good, like y’all don’t stand for s**t ever.”
Someone else defended the disgraced singer, tweeting, “Robert is still the King of R&B. One day he will get to see the sunrise.”
Singer Phabo tweeted, “I woke up this morning and went right back to sleep cus what do yall mean R.Kelly dropped a residuals challenge lol.”
Meanwhile, another user answered the question as to who is receiving Kelly’s royalties—it’s his victims.
X/Twitter
Kelly’s “Residuals” challenge came out of a rare interview from prison where he also revealed that he, allegedly, wrote 25 albums while incarcerated and that he’s never going to stop singing.
Tank spearheaded the challenge using Chris Brown‘s “Residuals” back in February.
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