R. Kelly has entered the chat from prison and joined in on Chris Brown‘s ‘Residuals’ challenge.
The remix, shared on Instagram by longtime collaborator Rodney East, adds Kelly’s own verse to Brown’s 2023 track from the deluxe edition of 11:11. East also clarified that the remix is authentic and not AI-generated.
In his verse, Kelly reflects on his time in prison and questions who is profiting from his music while he remains incarcerated.
“They’re still selling my music, making all this money / Don’t even send shit to my folks for commissary,” Kelly sings.
He also questions the handling of his royalties, adding, “Where is my money at? Tell me who, who’s getting paid for my grind? All of that’s supposed to be mine?”
The 58-year-old even expresses frustration over his 30-year sentence, rapping, “Who gave you 34 years? Who made you billions of dollars? Who put the R in R&B? I swear that it’s killing me in my cell, making me holler, dammit.”
Kelly’s remix is part of the viral “Residuals Challenge,” where various artists have been contributing their own versions of the song.
The release follows Kelly’s appearance on the Inmate Tea with A&P podcast, where he claimed to have written 25 albums during his time in prison.
“Well, singing is a beautiful disease that’s incurable,” Kelly said. “That’s not gonna happen, stopping singing. I don’t care where I’m at. I’m always singing, I’m always writing. I’ve written, like, 25 albums since I been in here, and right now I’m just working on getting out… I’m using patience as a tactic right now.”
Kelly is currently serving a 30-year sentence after being convicted in 2022 on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges. Last year, his daughter Buku Abi, born Joanne Kelly, accused him of sexual abuse.
