On Tuesday (August 25), the 19th anniversary of her death, Aaliyah’s estate announced that the late artist's music will finally be available on streaming platforms—soon.
“To our loyal fans: We are excited to announce that communication has commenced between the estate and various record labels about the status of Aaliyah’s music [catalog], as well as its availability on streaming platforms in the near future. Thank you for your continued love and support. More updates to come," the estate shared on Twitter.
The R&B star died in a plane crash in 2001 at just 22 years old. Today, much of her catalog, which has been managed by her uncle, Barry Hankerson, the founder of Blackground Records, has yet to appear on streaming services.
According to a 2016 report by Complex, while Hankerson grieved the loss of his niece, Blackground Records imploded, taking much of Aaliyah's catalog of music — including full albums, EPs and singles — with it.
"Grief turned to despondency; despondency turned to inertia," Complex reported. "Inexplicably, Blackground stopped releasing music, and artists stopped getting paid."
Blackground, which also previously housed Timbaland, Toni Braxton and JoJo’s music, has not released an album since 2013 and has been involved in various lawsuits over the past few years.
To make things more complicated, each of Aaliyah's albums were distributed by a different label: Age Ain’t Nothin’ But a Number was released under Jive; One in a Million was distributed by Atlantic; and her self-titled 2001 album was released through Virgin, now owned by Universal.
The only album that has been available on streaming services is Aaliyah’s debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number, which was executive produced by Hankerson alongside embattled singer and songwriter R. Kelly. Some of her EPs, such as The Thing I Like, (At Your Best) You Are Love, Age Ain't Nothing But a Number, Down with the Clique and Back & Forth, are available as well.
For now, fans are anxiously waiting for all of Aailyah’s hits to join music streaming services. See reactions to the news, below: