R. Kelly Music Sales Up 512% Following Guilty Verdict At Sex Trafficking Trial

R. Kelly’s music sales have skyrocketed these past weeks in the wake of his conviction last month on sex trafficking and other charges.

Kelly, 54, was found guilty by a federal jury in Brooklyn on Sept. 27 for sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, kidnapping, racketeering and sex trafficking. 

Beginning that very same day until Oct. 3, his album sales soared, leaping a whopping 512 percent, Rolling Stone reported. Furthermore, the disgraced musician’s on-demand audio streams were up 22 percent and his video streams were up 23 percent.

Despite being convicted of all charges brought against him during the high-profile trial, he seems to be more popular than ever.

Rolling Stone points out that in 2017, Kelly had an average of 5.4 million on-demand audio streams per week. He has about 6.4 million per week so far this year.

The sales news comes after YouTube removed two official Kelly channels this week as a response to the conviction. They reportedly shut down RKellyTV and RKellyVevo on Tuesday, Variety reported.

Throughout Kelly’s trial, prosecutors argued that Kelly sexually abused numerous young women and men, some of whom were underage, over a nearly two-decade period. The feds said he led an enterprise of managers, bodyguards, and other employees who recruited the victims for his twisted sexual desires while giving them false hope that he’d help them with their entertainment careers.

Kelly could face up to life in prison in the recently concluded case; his sentencing is scheduled for May 4. The singer also faces separate sex crimes trials in Illinois and Minnesota. He has pleaded not guilty in those cases.

Kelly was previously accused of child pornography in Chicago in 2002; he was ultimately acquitted in 2008.