Over the years, Aaliyah‘s legacy has been embattled with tension over the release of her catalog to streaming platforms. Now, as a bulk of her music is set to arrive to Spotify later this month, her estate is publicly condemning the startling release.
Baby Girl is coming to Spotify 🙏 pic.twitter.com/1fDcB6HvaE
— Spotify (@Spotify) August 5, 2021
On Thursday, fittingly announcing “Baby Girl Is Coming,” Spotify unveiled its rollout of the late singer’s heralded project. The streaming behemoth’s premiere calendar reveals that One in a Million will be available on August 20, the Romeo Must Die soundtrack will release on September 3, Aaliyah is arrive on September 10 and I Care 4 U and Ultimate Aaliyah will finally be added on October 8.
On August 4, fans began to speculate the streaming release when Blackground Records 2.0 shared the hashtag #AaliyahIsComing while a website of the same name also arose. The original Blackground Records, owned by the Rock The Boat songstress’ uncle and former manager Barry Hankerson, oversaw the release of the majority of Aaliyah’s music. Its rebirth has been confirmed by Hankerson himself.
Over the years, Aaliyah’s fans have remained divided on whether her discography should be released to streaming platforms or solely remain on YouTube. In response to the presumption the release of her music was imminent, her estate’s verified Instagram account released an official statement that seemingly decried the forthcoming move.
“Protecting Aaliyah’s legacy is, and will always be, our focus,” the message read. “For 20 years we have battled behind the scenes, enduring shadowy tactics of deception with unauthorized projects targeted to tarnish.”
The statement, which prompted the #IStandWithAaliyah hashtag, continued, “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.” In seeming support, Aaliyah’s former producer and friend Missy Elliot retweeted the statement via Twitter.
According to Pitchfork, the attorney representing the Aaliyah estate, Paul LiCalsi, also issued a subsequent statement to further clarify the obscurity regarding her discography. LiCalsi noted that Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number has been available via streaming, because “the right to distribute that record has been held by major record companies under contract with Aaliyah’s record label, Blackground Records.” However, LiCalsi continues, “virtually the entire remainder of her catalog, including many never released tracks, has been inexplicably withheld from the public by Blackground Records.” Emphasizing the lack of communication between the two parties, he added, “Aaliyah’s Estate has always been ready to share Aaliyah’s musical legacy but has been met with contention and a gross lack of transparency.”
