Yung Joc wants to know why it’s culturally unacceptable to listen to R. Kelly‘s music after his conviction, but art from people like Harvey Weinstein and Charlie Sheen hasn’t gotten the same treatment.
The rapper/media personality discussed the topic in an interview with Vlad TV published on Friday (December 30). When the conversation turned to the embattled singer’s leaked I Admit It album which briefly arrived earlier this month, Joc questioned why he can’t listen to his childhood favorite anymore.
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“Why is that all of his music has to be banned? Why is that?” Yung Joc asked. “Because it’s so many other people who have done things bad, been convicted for it. And their TV shows are still running or their music is still being streamed and played and sold… It’s like we get the harshest punishment, man.
“I’m not saying that in some cases it’s not deserved. You know, you earned that,” he continued. “I ain’t saying that. That’s not the case, but I’m just saying, we do get the harsher punishment. Because I ain’t gon’ lie, R. Kelly made some great music.”
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He continued: “He made some timeless music and simply because of what he’s been accused of or convicted of, I’m supposed to just not listen to this person that I grew up through my childhood to my adolescence to my adulthood? I’m not supposed to listen to this person anymore? Oh, he did something bad so I’m supposed to just clearly wipe him out of my mind?”
Joc concluded his thoughts by asking why no one else is treated that way. “It’s like why has no one pushed for these things to happen to other offenders in the world? That’s what I want to say, because it’s just crazy to me,” he said.
I Admit It appeared on streaming services earlier this month, but it was quickly pulled after Sony Music confirmed it wasn’t authorized. Criminal defense attorney Jennifer Bonjean informed TMZ that she was working with R. Kelly’s entertainment attorneys and others on his team to determine who has access to his music, stating that they’ve identified a small group of potential culprits.
R. Kelly himself made a statement from prison regarding the project, denying that he had anything to do with it and even maintaining that it’s not him singing.
“Apparently somebody done faked an album called I Admit It, and put it out there as if it was me putting it out,” he said in the prison recording. “And I’m not putting out any albums, I haven’t put out any albums, I’m not even interested in putting out any albums, ’cause my only focus is the appeal and everything else.
“But it seems like somebody want this album out to mess with the appeal because why would I put an album out called I Admit It? Okay, so that right there make no damn sense.”
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R. Kelly is currently serving a 30-year sentence at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, after being found guilty by a federal court in Brooklyn on one count of racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act in 2021.
