Aaliyah’s music is coming to streaming. Here’s when you can listen to everything and why it’s taken 20 years for this to happen.<\/b>
\nOn Friday, August 20, 2021, Aaliyah \u2019s fans woke up to a wonderful new day: her album, One In A Million, was finally available on streaming platforms. Considering the impact that Aaliyah had during her short life \u2013 she sold millions of records, influenced style and fashion, and helped define R&B\u2019s sound in the 1990s \u2014 her absence on these platforms was a glaring omission. Now, thanks to some efforts behind the scenes (and ahead of the twentieth anniversary of her tragic death), Aaliyah\u2019s discography has been given new life, allowing a whole new generation of fans to fall in love with \u201cThe Princess of R&B.\u201d For those unfamiliar with her, and unsure why her music is now suddenly available, here\u2019s what you need to know. Born Aaliyah Dana Haughton on Jan.17,1979, in Brooklyn, New York. At age 5, her family relocated to Detroit, Michigan. From an early age, she found a love for music, performing in church choirs and at weddings. Aaliyah spent her youth traveling between New York and Detroit, thanks to her uncle, Barry Hankerson, an entertainment lawyer and music mogul credited with launching the careers of not just Aaliyah but R. Kelly, Ginuwine, Timbaland, and Missy Elliott, per Complex. Barry had also been married to Gladys Knight. Thanks to her uncle, she auditioned for commercials and television programs and eventually competed on Star Search in 1989 as a preteen. Though she didn\u2019t win the competition, she continued to sing and landed a five-night stint performing with Gladys Knight in Las Vegas when she was just eleven years old. With Aliyah\u2019s parents giving permission, Hankerson began to manage her and signed Aaliyah to a recording contract with Blackground Records, his label that had a distribution deal with Jive Records. Hankerson also served as an executive producer on all of her albums, including her 1994 debut, Age Ain\u2019t Nothing But A Number. The album marked the first time that Aaliyah worked with R. Kelly, who wrote and produced most of the songs on the album. The working relationship turned romantic. R. Kelly was 27. Aaliyah was 14. The couple was secretly married on Aug.31,1994, but after Vibe published a story \u2013 including the alleged fraudulent marriage certificate that claimed Aaliyah was 18 \u2013 the marriage was annulled. Aaliyah denied the union, per Biography, and Hankerson, reportedly furious at the relationship, separated his niece from R. Kelly. Hankerson replaced him with emerging songwriting\/production duo Timbaland and Missy Elliott for Aaliyah\u2019s next album, One In A Million. The album went double platinum with radio hits \u201cIf Your Girl Only Knew\u201d and the title track. Her third album, Aaliyah, arrived in July 2001. It went platinum twice, thanks to singles, \u201cRock The Boat\u201d and \u201cMore Than A Woman.\u201d Aaliyah\u2019s music also appeared on some noteworthy soundtracks in the 1990s. She recorded \u201cJourney to the Past\u201d for Anastasia and earned an Academy Award nomination for best song. \u201cAre You That Somebody?\u201d appeared on the Dr. Doolittle soundtrack. \u201cTry Again,\u201d from Romeo Must Die, would be the only one of Aaliyah\u2019s songs to hit No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. On Aug.25,2001 \u2014 six weeks after releasing her self-titled album \u2014 Aliyah was dead at the far too young age of 22. So, how did Aaliyah die? She was shooting the music video for \u201cRock The Boat\u201d in the Bahamas when her plane crashed immediately after takeoff. The craft, carrying eight people and luggage, had been overloaded. An autopsy report discovered that the pilot, Luis Morales, had traces of cocaine in his system, and it was discovered that he had obtained his license by falsifying flight logs. In the two decades since her death, Aaliyah\u2019s legacy has only grown. However, outside of her first album, most of Aaliyah\u2019s albums haven\u2019t been on streaming platforms \u2013 until now. What changed? Until August 2021, only her debut album, Age Ain\u2019t Nothing But A Number, has been on streaming services. That\u2019s likely due to the distribution deal with Jive, which is part of Sony Music. In 1996, Hankerson signed a distribution deal with Atlantic Records, which handles the rest of Aaliyah\u2019s music. Complex pinned the blame on Hankerson\u2019s many lawsuits ( Toni Braxton and JoJo, who were both signed to Blackground, filed lawsuits against Barry Hankerson, alleging breach of trust, fraud, and other allegations.) Aaliyah\u2019s catalog is now being re-released through a partnership between Blackground Records 2.0 and EMPIRE. Blackground 2.0 is also overseen by Barry Hankerson. One In A Million arrived on August 20. Her Aliyah album will hit streaming services on September 10, per Rolling Stone, with compilations albums I Care 4 U and Ultimate Aaliyah scheduled for an Oct.8 release date. Fans, both old and new, have been waiting for this to happen. When One In A Million dropped, it reached No.1 on US iTunes, topped the US Apple Music R&B\/Soul Albums chart, and her name charted on Twitter for hours. There has been \u2013 and still is \u2013 a conflict between Barry Hankerson and Aaliyah\u2019s estate, and that has been a major issue as to why Aaliyah\u2019s music wasn\u2019t available until now. After Aaliyah\u2019s death, a grief-stricken Hankerson went into seclusion. Blackground stopped releasing music \u2013 which resulted in some lawsuits \u2013 and didn\u2019t adapt to the rise of the mp3 or the streaming world. Sony, who had the distribution rights to Age, was able to get the music on streaming services. There\u2019s also the issue of Aaliyah\u2019s family, per Billboard: \u201dHer older brother, Rashad, \u201cwas a close confidante on every major decision; and her cousin, Hankerson\u2019s son Jomo, executive-produced each of her albums. Her mother, Diane \u2014 a singer herself when she was young \u2014 kept her daughter grounded and made sure she finished school, which she eventually did, graduating with a 4.0 GPA. After Aaliyah\u2019s death, that began to come apart.\u201d Hankerson began seeking a new distribution deal for Aaliyah\u2019s music a year ago, after Aaliyah\u2019s estate \u201cmade a cryptic announcement that \u2018communication has commenced\u2019 between the estate and \u2018various record labels\u2019 about finally getting her music online. (h\/t The New York Times.) Hankerson, through Blackground, owns Aaliyah\u2019s recordings. However, in a Jan.2021 statement, the estate released a statement saying it has \u201ccontrol\u201d over Aaliyah\u2019s \u201cbrand, legacy, and intellectual property (h\/t Slate). After the news of Aaliyah\u2019s music hitting streaming services, the estate issued a statement (per Variety): \u201cFor 20 years we have battled behind the scenes, enduring shadowy tactics of deception,\u201d the estate\u2019s statement reads, \u201cnow, this unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah\u2019s music without transparency or full accounting to the estate compels our hearts to express a word \u2013 forgiveness,\u201d but pledges to \u201ccontinue to defend ourselves and her legacy lawfully.\u201d \u201cSince the early 2000s, only Aaliyah\u2019s first album \u2018Age Ain\u2019t Nothing But a Number\u2019 has been available on streaming platforms because the right to distribute that record has been held by major record companies under contract with Aaliyah\u2019s record label, Blackground Records,\u201d the estate\u2019s attorney said in a follow-up statement. \u201cOther than that first album, virtually the entire remainder of her catalog, including many never released tracks, has been inexplicably withheld from the public by Blackground Records. Aaliyah\u2019s Estate has always been ready to share Aaliyah\u2019s musical legacy but has been met with contention and a gross lack of transparency. \u201cFor almost 20 years, Blackground has failed to account to the Estate with any regularity in accordance with her recording contracts. In addition, the Estate was not made aware of the impending release of the catalog until after the deal was complete and plans were in place. The Estate has demanded that Blackground provide a full account of its past earnings and full disclosure of the terms of its new deal to distribute Aaliyah\u2019s long embargoed music.\u201d This bickering and clashing may have contributed to the delay. Hankerson, speaking to Billboard, defended himself. He also spoke about the dispute between himself and his sister, Aaliyah\u2019s mother. \u201cThere was a conversation we had that she didn\u2019t want the music out, and whatever my sister told me, I tried to do what she wanted me to do,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a parent, I would understand if she did not want the music out. Because who wants to hear the voice of your daughter who\u2019s gone? So when she said that to me, I said, \u2018OK, we\u2019re not putting it out. I don\u2019t know when, but one day we will.\u2019 We literally packed everything up and went on to something else.\u201d Twenty years after Aaliyah\u2019s death, her music will finally be part of the modern landscape. The move will usher in a new generation of fans while reminding all \u2013 young and old \u2013 of the great talent that was lost. However, now Aaliyah\u2019s voice will be heard once again, ensuring her legacy will last forever.<\/p>\n