The past week has been a whirlwind for R. Kelly and the music industry. According to Billboard, after the Jan. 5 finale of Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” docuseries aired, the R&B singer saw a massive boost in streams.
As reported, the singer’s catalog generated 4.3 million on-demand streams in the U.S. after the documentary, which centers around a series of sexual abuse allegations against Kelly, premiered. The rise marks a 116 percent increase from last Wednesday (Jan. 2).
The series made its televised debut on Thursday (Jan. 3), resulting in thousands weighing in on the situation, such as his daughter and countless celebrities.
According to Billboard, the songs that listeners gravitated towards — resulting in their subsequent uptick in streams — include “Ignition” (433,000 U.S. streams, up 80 percent), “Trapped in the Closet” (396,000, up 230 percent), “Bump N’ Grind” (266,000, up 94 percent), “Same Girl” featuring Usher, (176,000, up 126 percent) and “I Believe I Can Fly” (161,000, up 48 percent). When adding up the singer’s daily streams during the three-day documentary event and the day after the series’ finale, streams increased by 65 percent, garnering a total of 14.5 million streams. The week prior, Dec. 30 – Jan. 2, R. Kelly’s music racked up 8.8 million streams.
However, while his streaming numbers increased following the six-part docuseries — as did views on his Wikipedia page — radio airplay experienced a significant decline. As reported, in January 2018, he averaged 11.1 million in audience each week. That number, as of December 2018, decreased to an average of 6.7 million. Two radio stations in Dallas made the decision to ban the singer’s music in the wake of the docuseries bringing to light the magnitude of the allegations he’s facing.
“Smooth R&B 105.7 [KRNB] and K104 [KKDA] made the decision to drop R. Kelly’s music from our playlists due to the outpouring of concern from our listeners regarding Kelly’s alleged sexual assaults of underage girls,” Service Broadcasting Corporation shared in a statement. “There are no immediate plans to drop music from any other artists.”
While there has been no official explanation helping provide insight in the uptick in streams, it could be due to the act of hate-listening.
R. Kelly continues to vehemently deny all allegations being made against him and plans on pursuing legal action against Lifetime.