A viral video claiming to feature a new song by embattled American singer R. Kelly has taken social media by storm.
The video, titled My Soul Cries Out, portrays a man dressed in prison attire, allegedly performing from behind bars.
Shared on January 12, 2025, by an X user, @MarianVictor18, the clip, which lasts 3 minutes and 37 seconds, depicts scenes from a prison yard and courtroom, with the supposed R. Kelly taking centre stage.
The post’s caption read: “R Kelly – Official Music Video 2025 (in prison) My Soul Cries Out… Pls, how many years is he serving??? Can’t he get a presidential pardon? This voice shouldn’t end in prison… We know he has done wrong but please, let them have mercy on him. Feel like crying watching this.”
The post has since garnered over 2.1 million views, 22,000 likes, and 9,000 reposts as of January 14, 2025. It has also spread across platforms like YouTube, where similar videos are circulating.
A detailed investigation by The FactCheckHub has revealed that the video is fake and was created using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The video contains several inconsistencies that point to its AI origins. For instance, the text on the back of the man’s orange jumpsuit changes from “R.KELY” to “KELLY” midway through the clip. Movements like hand gestures, walking, and talking appear unnatural and robotic, which is typical of AI-generated visuals.
Additionally, a scan of the song using Shazam, a music identification app, returned no results, suggesting that the track was not officially recorded or released.
Further investigation traced the video back to a YouTube user, MagXie_Dom, who admitted in the description that the song and video were created using AI tools.
R. Kelly, whose real name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking in 2021 and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
In 2023, he received another 20-year sentence for child sex crimes. The once-celebrated singer is currently serving his time in a US prison.
