R. Kelly Tried To Sabotage Joe's Career?

More controversy heads R. Kelly's way, as former Jive Records label mate Joe recently revealed details about his recent departure from the label - after 11 years, seven Grammy nominations, three gold albums and two platinum albums.

It wasn't until he left the label that Joe, famous for hits like "Stutter" and his collaboration with Big Pun "Still Not A Player," that he understood quite what was the source of his perceived lack of progress. According to Eurweb.com, Joe says that R. Kelly put pressure on label executives and radio stations to cease promoting Joe's records when his singles started getting attention.

"R. Kelly was very instrumental in making a lot of decisions when it came to my records being played on the radio," said Joe. "He would make a call to the radio station or to the label and say, 'Hey, this Joe record is too hot right now. Yall need to pull that back.' And they would oblige."

Don't get Joe wrong, though. The singer is relieved to be off the label and taking the independent route, he's happier than ever. "It's incredible that now I get the opportunity to, I don't know, maybe pay [R. Kelly] back in some sort of side bar kind of thing."

"I'm still very relevant in the game. But yeah, he did try to make some decisions when it came down to my records being on fire, and climbing up the charts and on the radio stations," Joe said of Kells. "He felt like they should pull back because he felt he was more important. And with their loyalty to him, they obliged."

Joe says he didn't find out about the situation until after he left Jive Records six months ago. His decision to leave was initially his belief that is was "just time to do my own thing."

Joe will be releasing his next album, New Man, on Sept 22 via Kedar Entertainment Group. Distribution will be handled by Universal Music Group's Fontana Distribution.