“With demonstrators standing outside his concert protesting his presence, R. Kelly summoned his passionate fans to carry him through what has been a difficult week,” Tom Foreman Jr. reports for The Associated Press. “‘Sometimes, some storms ain’t gonna stop,’ Kelly told the audience during his nearly one-hour performance. ‘As long as my fans are calling for me, I’m gonna be on that stage, singing these songs.'”
“Well after his performance, however, the storms that started before he arrived continued to roil,” Foreman Jr. reports. “Women’s groups had urged the Greensboro Coliseum to cancel, days after Kelly was disinvited from a concert in Chicago. Spotify announced it would no longer stream his music in its curated playlists. Although it didn’t announce the move, Apple’s music-streaming service also has stopped promoting Kelly’s music on some of the featured playlists that it shows its 40 million subscribers. Like Spotify, Apple Music still carries an extensive selection of Kelly’s songs in its library.”
“The Greensboro concert was among the R&B singer’s first performances since the #MuteRKelly movement accelerated boycott efforts in recent weeks, with help from the Time’s Up campaign against sexual harassment and assault. Protesters stood on the sidewalk outside the Greensboro Coliseum and criticized arena officials for declining to meet with a coalition of women’s groups that signed a letter citing a ‘long term history of sexual misconduct’ by Kelly,” Foreman Jr. reports. “He was acquitted in 2008 of child pornography after a video circulated appearing to show him having sex with a teenage girl… Spotify, citing its new policy against hateful content and conduct, announced Thursday that Kelly’s music is no longer available on the service’s owned and operated playlists and algorithmic recommendations. His music can still be found by those who search for it, but Spotify will not promote it.”
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MacDailyNews Note: Apple may have stopped promoting R. Kelly playlists, but there are currently seven playlists featuring R. Kelly on Apple Music in the R&B and Hip-Hop categories:
• R. Kelly Essentials
• R. Kelly: Next Steps
• R. Kelly: Deep Cuts
• R. Kelly: Influences
• Inspired by R. Kelly
• Behind the Boards: R. Kelly
• Guest List: R. Kelly