Aaliyah Estate issues ‘unauthorized projects’ statement as ex-label teases music release

Much of Aaliyah’s most popular music is notably not available for streaming. His albums One in a million (1996) and Aaliyah (2001), as well as singles like “Are You That Somebody? Have stayed away from digital streaming platforms. Only the first singles and her first album Age is nothing but a number (1994) is available. Social media fans speculated on a streaming release on Wednesday August 4 after the Blackground Records 2.0 account shared a new website and hashtag: #AaliyahIsComing.

The original Blackground Records released the majority of Aaliyah’s music and was owned by the singer’s uncle and former manager, Barry Hankerson. Hankerson owns the majority of Aaliyah’s masters apart from Age is nothing but a number, and he confirmed that he was at the origin of the “2.0” revival of the label.

Aaliyah Haughton’s estate shared a statement on Wednesday, August 4, which detailed how they “fought behind the scenes, enduring obscure deceit tactics with unauthorized plans to tarnish.” The statement criticized an “unscrupulous effort to publish Aaliyah’s music without any transparency or full account of the succession.” The statement continues:

While we will continue to stand up for ourselves and his legacy in a legal and fair manner, we want to anticipate the inevitable attacks on our character by all those individuals who have come out of the shadows to get rid of the lifelong work of ‘Aaliyah. Ultimately, we want closure and a minimum of peace so that we can facilitate the growth of the Aaliyah Memorial Fund and other creative projects that embody the true essence of Aaliyah, which is to inspire strength and positivity. for people of all faiths, races and cultures around the world.

The domain came up with its own hashtag – #IStandWithAaliyah – and Missy Elliott retweeted the domain’s tweet. Earlier this year, the estate noted, “While we share your feelings and desire to release Aaliyah’s music, we must recognize that these matters are beyond our control and, unfortunately, take time.”

A complex 2016 article “The Unexplainable Lack of Aaliyah’s Best Music Online” described how One in a million and Aaliyah were illegally uploaded to iTunes in 2013 by a distribution company called Craze Digital, which did not own the rights to its music. A collection of Aaliyah’s hits were uploaded to streaming services in 2017, but were quickly deleted.