The second disc (Remix CD) featured alternate versions and the hit “Step in the Name of Love (Remix).”
If you wish to listen to Chocolate Factory for historical, academic, or personal reasons, here are the legal avenues. Note that royalties from streams and downloads go to Sony Music (which owns Jive Records) and various songwriting rights organizations, which in turn may be subject to legal rulings regarding Kelly’s assets.
Amazon Music:
Google Play Music:
Chocolate Factory debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling over 532,000 copies in its first week. It was certified 3x Platinum by the RIAA and produced two Grammy-nominated singles. At the time, critics gave it moderately positive reviews, with Rolling Stone calling it “a welcome return to the sticky-sweet slow jams that made him a star.”
However, the album’s legacy has been permanently stained. Following the 2019 documentary Surviving R. Kelly and his 2021 federal convictions (including racketeering and sex trafficking), streaming numbers for his catalog initially plummeted. Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms still host his music, but they have removed him from all official editorial playlists. Some radio stations have completely banned his songs.
In the sprawling, controversial discography of Robert Sylvester Kelly, the album Chocolate Factory (released February 18, 2003) stands as a unique artifact. It arrived at a pivotal moment: the tail end of the “slow jam” era, just before digital downloads began cannibalizing CD sales, and in the wake of Kelly’s very public legal and personal struggles in the early 2000s. r kelly chocolate factory album download
Chocolate Factory was marketed as a return to form, a “back to the bedroom” project that re-established Kelly as the king of sensual, hypnotic R&B. With hits like “Ignition (Remix)” and “Step in the Name of Love,” the album became a commercial juggernaut, even as it marked the beginning of a critical reassessment of his work.
Today, accessing Chocolate Factory requires navigating a complicated web of music streaming rights, legacy sales, and the broader ethical questions surrounding Kelly’s music. This article explores the album’s significance, its tracklist, and—most importantly—the legal ways to download or stream it.
Sonically, Chocolate Factory is classic R. Kelly: slow, grinding drum machines (the Roland TR-808 features heavily), lush string pads, and gospel-tinged backing vocals. Unlike the epic, cinematic R. (1998) or the operatic TP-2.com (2000), Chocolate Factory feels intentionally smaller, more intimate, and loop-based. The second disc (Remix CD) featured alternate versions
Two tracks define the album:
The album also includes a “remix CD” as part of its original release, featuring “Ignition (Remix)” alongside reworks of “Apologies of a Thug” and “Thoia Thoing.”