A New R. Kelly Song Is Being Shared Online — Did the R&B Singer Release Music From Prison?

In June 2022, R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison after he was convicted of sexual abuse and sex trafficking. As of January 2025, he is incarcerated at a federal prison in North Carolina. After that initial guilty verdict, which was handed down in the state of New York, he was found guilty of another child sex abuse federal charge in the state of Illinois. He got 20 years for that, which he is serving concurrently with the first sentence.

Six months after he was sentenced in New York, Kelly released a statement to the Chicago-Sun Times regarding his music. In it, he claims someone was stealing it, though the singer doesn't say who. "I wish they would just leave my music alone because it is all I have left, it’s all my fans have left," said the message. Three years later, a new song by Kelly is circulating online but it could be AI-generated. Is this a hoax? Here's what we know.

The @MarianVictor18 X account shared a song claiming to be by Kelly on Jan. 12, 2025. She wrote that the accompanying music video was filmed from prison, then asked how many years the singer is serving. "Can't he get a presidential pardon," she said. "This voice shouldn't end in prison. We know he had done some wrong, but please let them have mercy on him."

The video is clearly AI-generated because while an incarcerated individual can record music from prison, either via a phone or a tablet, they can't film an entire music video. This couldn't be less believable as it includes scenes like Kelly playing an upright piano in a cell while fellow prisoners look on. The AI version of Kelly isn't even playing the piano well. His hands are very much not in the right place.

We can't be sure, but it also appears as if images of a young Charlie Murphy were used to create this video. It's unclear why someone would want to put the older brother of Eddie Murphy in a fake R. Kelly music video, but it certainly looks like him. As an adolescent, Murphy spent 10 months in Nassau County Jail in 1978 after violating his probation for a previous robbery charge, but that was it. Such is the mystery that usually comes with anything related to AI.

The YouTube Channel Kinetic W4ve released an AI-generated R. Kelly song on Jan. 11, 2025. The is titled "Jesus Save My Soul," and appears to be in the same vein as the video uploaded by @MarianVictor18. Unlike that song, the Kinetic W4ve video clearly states that this is AI. Despite that, at least one person in the comments doesn't seem to care.

"R. Kelly is so talented and has God’s grace. If he comes out and gives his [sic] to Christ and goes back to his gospel music, R Kelly will touch lives positively."

The comments under the video posted to X are less supportive. "The U.S. Justice system works because the law is applied without bias. You get your comeuppance," said one X user. Another asked if the original poster would also like to see Diddy go free after his trial in May 2025. "I'm just praying for mercy," said @MarianVictor18.