Aaliyah's music is coming to streaming services
Aaliyah's music is coming to streaming services, starting from this month, record label Blackground Records 2.0 has confirmed.
Despite reservations from the late singer's estate, Aaliyah's catalogue will steadily be made available on streaming platforms in the coming months, starting on August 20 with her second studio album, 1996's One In A Million.
Large parts of the groundbreaking R&B artist's discography haven't been made available on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, depriving her of a proper legacy since she died in a plane crash aged 22.
On September 3 the Romeo Must Die soundtrack will be issued; a compilation that features several contributions from Aaliyah including the Timbaland-produced Try Again, which became her first UK Top 10 in 2000, peaking at Number 5.
MORE: Big albums still to come in 2021
Her self-titled 2001 album, released just over a month before her death, will be available from September 10. The collection includes her hit singles Rock The Boat and More Than A Woman, the latter of which became the UK's first posthumous Number 1 by a female artist in the UK.
Finally, 2002 posthumous compilation I Care 4 U and retrospective collection Ultimate Aaliyah will be released on October 8. View Aaliyah's Official UK Chart history in full here.
Blackground Records founder and Aaliyah's uncle Barry Hankerson has teamed up with label Empire for the long-awaited release of her catalogue. A further 17 albums from its roster will be re-released over the next two months, on streaming services as well as on CD and vinyl. They include material from Timbaland & Magoo, Tank, Toni Braxton, JoJo, and Ashley Parker Angel. See the full list below.
The release of Aaliyah's catalogue has been criticised by her estate, who posted a strongly worded statement online claiming they have been battling "shadowy tactics of deception with unauthorized projects targeted to tarnish".
It continues: "Now, in this 20th year, this unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah’s music without any transparency or full accounting to the estate compels our hearts to express a word – forgiveness. Although we will continue to defend ourselves and her legacy lawfully and justly, we want to preempt the inevitable attacks on our character by all the individuals who have emerged from the shadows to leech off of Aaliyah’s life’s work."
Blackground Records 2021 release timeline
August 20th: Aaliyah - One In A Million Album
August 27th: Timbaland & Magoo - Welcome To Our World, Indecent Proposal and Under Construction, Part II Albums + Timbaland - Tim's Bio Album
September 3rd: Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds Movie Soundtracks
September 10th: Aaliyah - ΛΛLIYΛH Album
September 17th: Tank - Force of Nature, One Man and Sex, Love & Pain Albums
September 24th: JoJo - JoJo and The High Road Albums | Ashley Parker Angel - Soundtrack To Your Life Album
October 1st: Toni Braxton - Libra Album
October 8th: Aaliyah - I Care 4 U Ultimate Aaliyah Compilation Albums
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AUCF
Angry UK Chart Fan
Her agency sounds overprotective of her. Reminding me too much of the Gaye family estate.
And I feel deja vu with this article, like I saw this last year that her catalogue is coming to streaming services, etc..
CP
Courtney Puzzo
she had decent sales but not great none of her albums sold more than 3 million copies in the US she debuted in Mariah Carey's prime period 1994 through out the 90s Mariah's albums each sold a minimum of 3 million copies each in the United states and as high as 10 million copies each and will soon have 3 diamond albums joining Shania Twain and Whitney Houston as the female artist with the most diamond albums the male with the most is Garth Brooks with 9 and groups with the most diamond albums are the Beatles with 6 and the Eagles with nearly 5 1994's Freeze's Over is eligible for 10x platinum
Count Plutarch
"Depriving her of a proper legacy"? It's not like her music was unavailable in this time - you could, and still can, buy it on physical media. It sounds like there's a lot of hot mess around her, which feels typical of many stars who died too young... the vultures are out, but as long as people can add her to "Essential R&B" playlists on Spotify everything's fine, eh?