Aaliyah: 11 years without you

Missy Elliott Says She Has "No Clue" About A New Aaliyah Album

Aaliyah's cousin and son of Barry Hankerson, Jomo Hankerson, confirmed in an exclusive interview with Billboard Biz that long time friends of Aaliyah, Timbaland and Missy Elliott, are on board with the new album, but according to Missy Elliott she has "no clue" about a new Aaliyah album. Today, a fan tweeted Missy Elliott congratulating her on being involved on Aaliyah's new album, but then Missy hit everyone with a doozy- no one told her about an Aaliyah album.

Drake Promises "New Aaliyah Album This Year"

Drake has made it clear that he doesn't spend much time on social media outlets thanks to the inevitable criticism, but this week the YMCMB rapper really caught heat for his new collaboration with Aaliyah. Amid rumors that her family isn't supporting the mysterious posthumous album that he's helming, Drake finally confirmed that the project is official — with the blessing of her family.

Aubrey first dropped hints about a posthumous album from the singer in March during a radio interview, telling fans he had some "great Aaliyah news coming soon." A month later, Timbaland was questioned about Drake's involvement in the project and he was firm in stating that both he and Missy Elliott should be involved in any Aaliyah music being produced on the horizon.

Things went quiet for a while, until last week when word began to spread that Drake might premiere a new single featuring Aaliyah at his annual OVO Fest in Toronto on Sunday (August 5). While he didn't actually debut the song onstage, "Enough Said" (correctly billed as Aaliyah featuring Drake) hit the Web, causing quite the stir. Some fans were happy to hear unreleased music from the singer 11 years after her death, but plenty were up in arms over Drake reportedly cutting Timb out of the equation.

Next came rumors that Aaliyah's family wasn't supporting the project, but during an interview with MuchMusic, Drake finally explained the real deal. "People should be really excited. People thought it was my single; it's not my single. It's all off of an Aaliyah project that me and 40 are commanding and 40's just doing some incredible, some incredible music right now," Drake shared backstage at OVO Fest.

"To get 13, 14 new Aaliyah songs, everybody should be excited. It's not about me. It's not about 40. It's about her and her fans and us just getting the opportunity to give you something that we feel is great. And the people around her, everybody from her family to her old management and label, were like, 'If there's anyone out that can do it right now, it's [you] and 40.' And that was an honor and we're going to pull in some classic people, anybody who used to work with Aaliyah that was essential in her career we definitely hope to have them involved. So it's great. You get a new Aaliyah album this year on top of everything."

There has been no official statement from Aaliyah's family but the stamp of Blackground Records, which is run by her uncle Barry Hankerson, appears on the cover art for "Enough Said" alongside Drake's own OVO symbol

Timbaland and Missy Elliott Will Be Involved in Aaliyah Album

Timbaland and Missy Elliott helped craft Aaliyah’s trademark sound, and now fans will be able to hear them make magic once again on a posthumous album.


In an interview with Billboard.biz, Aaliyah’s cousin Jomo Hankerson, who runs Blackground Records with his father Barry Hankerson, confirmed the hitmakers’ participation.

“I can tell you that Timbaland will definitely be involved, Missy will definitely be involved,” said Hankerson, who added, “One of the records that we had that was never released was a Missy record that we obviously are going to be refreshing.”

Just days ago, Drake said that he and producer Noah “40” Shebib would be “commanding the new Aaliyah album,” but Hankerson denies the claim. Instead, he says that he and his father will executive produce the project, which they hope to release by the end of the year. They are pulling from 16 unreleased Aaliyah recordings and calling on “contemporary artists.”

He did reveal, however, that Drake will appear on “more of the records” in addition to the single “Enough Said,” and that 40 is “heavily involved.”

“We really felt like it was time,” explained Hankerson. “There’s a real new generation that doesn’t know her necessarily, and we wanted to continue her musical legacy with this new generation. That’s one of the reasons why we wanted to do very contemporary music. We didn’t want to make it a nostalgic project; we already did that with the I Care 4 U album.”

While his exact role remains unclear, Drake can’t wait for Aaliyah’s fans to hear new material from the late singer, who died 11 years ago. “40’s just doing some incredible, incredible music right now,” he told MuchMusic. “To get 13, 14 new Aaliyah songs, everybody should be excited. It’s not about me, it’s not about 40. It’s really about her and her fans and us just getting the opportunity to give you something that we feel is great.” 

UPDATE: Blackground Records has now confirmed to Billboard.biz that Drake and Noah “40” Shebib will indeed co-executive produce the Aaliyah album alongside Blackground Records.

Drake talks Aaliyah album

Drake feels good about moving forward with plans to produce a posthumous project.
The music world has been missing Aaliyah for years, but Drake recently brought her back with a new single titled "Enough Said."

The musical resurrection was welcomed by many fans, but not everyone is feeling the first release from the upcoming album that he is mixing alongside his producer Noah ’40′ Shebib. Drake is amped about the opportunity to kind of work with one of his idols, and he told MuchMusic that he wishes more people felt the same.

"People should be excited [about the new single]. It’s all off of an Aaliyah project that me and 40 are commanding and 40 is just doing some incredible, incredible music right now," he said. "To get 13-14 new Aaliyah songs …. everybody should be excited."

He added, "It’s not about me, and it’s not about 40. It’s really about her and her fans…and us just getting an opportunity to give you something that we feel is great."

Drake shared that he's definitely getting a vote of confidence from her inner circle, and he wants to make sure that all of her closest collaborators get a chance to have their voice heard on the album. That's great news for Timbaland, who recently told the hosts of the "The Breakfast Club" radio show that he thinks an Aaliyah album wouldn't be right without him and Missy Elliot making some kind of contribution. Drake seems to welcome their input.

"You know, the people around her, everybody from her family to her old management and label, were just like, ‘If there’s anybody out who can do it right now, it’s you and 40,'" Drake said. "And it was an honor to pull in some classic people, like anybody who used to work with Aaliyah that was essential in her career, we hope to have them involved."

When Drake said "everybody," that list likely did not include Aaliyah's brother, Rashad Haughton, who went on the singer's official Facebook page to denounce the project. "There is no official album being released and supported by the Haughton family,” Rashad wrote.

Watch Video Here >> http://youtu.be/CgMqkdCg-F8

Blackground Records Clarifies Rumors of Aaliyah's Posthumous Album

Last week, a report claimed that a posthumous Aaliyah** album was in the works and that Drake** would executive produce the project. Additionally, the Young Money rapper was supposedly set to feature the late singer, who passed in August 2001, on his latest single.

Instead, this past Sunday (August 5th), Blackground Records released Aaliyah's "Enough Said" featuring Drake to Soundcloud. The ghostly cut touted previously unheard vocals, a smoldering beat from producer Noah "40" Shebib and a verse from Drake. Three hours after it was posted, the song racked up more than 100,000 clicks. As of press time, it has more than 620,000 listens.

The song ignited debates about the possible existence of a new Aaliyah LP. Many fans speculated that Aaliyah collaborators Timbaland** and Missy Elliott** would not be involved with the project. Some criticized the fact that Drake, who has continuously expressed his love for her music, would oversee an album when he had never actually met her. Aaliyah's brother Rashad Haughton posted an official statement on Facebook that her immediate family will not support this project, which Drake later countered by claiming that "everybody from her family to her old management and label" were behind the record. Billboard.biz reached out to Haughton but had not received a response as of press time.

Aaliyah's cousin Jomo Hankerson, who runs Blackground Records with his father Barry Hankerson, spoke with Billboard.biz about the posthumous release, confirming that an album is in fact in the works. Using 16 unreleased songs and "fragments" from Aaliyah's archive, Blackground hopes to release the LP by year's end, enlisting "contemporary artists" to color the project and help repackage her vocals. This marks the first release from the late singer since 2002's "I Care 4 U," a compilation album featuring previously heard and unheard recordings, and is intended to introduce her to younger listeners by updating her sound.

"We really felt like it was time. There's a real new generation that doesn't know her necessarily, and we wanted to continue her musical legacy with this new generation," explains Hankerson. "That's one of the reasons why we wanted to do very contemporary music. We didn't want to make it a nostalgic project; we already did that with the 'I Care 4 U' album. The idea was to release new music for her diehard fans, and also reintroduce her music to a new generation that doesn't really understand how much influence she has in the music that they're listening to today."

Hankerson denies that Drake is contracted to executive produce the project (he says that he and his father will executive produce the album, but that they are considering adding others to the fold), but says that he will appear on "more of the records" and that Shebib is "heavily involved" in reshaping the music. After moving its publishing to Reservoir Media in July, Blackground reached out to the Canadian producer on the strength of his work with Alicia Keys** ("Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)") and his unique sound. It seemed only "natural" that Drake would contribute to what would become "Enough Said." Blackground was so pleased with the result that they released the stream before having a marketing plan or radio strategy in place.

While the album is in the early stages, Hankerson confirms that Timbaland and Missy Elliott will participate in assembling the LP. "Timbaland will be involved with this project. One of the records that we had that was never released was a Missy record that we obviously are going to be refreshing," says Hankerson, who did not clarify if Timbaland has already produced songs for the project. "This record ['Enough Said'] really kind of came sooner than we thought it was going to come, so it's really the beginning of the creative process for us. We've got a record out while we're still creating the project. A lot of that is still up in the air, but I can tell you that Timbaland will definitely be involved, Missy will definitely be involved." Timbaland declined to comment for this story, while Elliott did not respond to Billboard.biz's request as of press time.

Reservoir Media Management EVP Rell Lafargue estimates that there is enough leftover material for two posthumous Aaliyah albums, while Hankerson says that approximation might be "a little premature." Talks between Blackground and Reservoir began roughly 15 months ago for the latter to acquire the 500-song catalog that includes Aaliyah's archives, music from Static Major and albums from JoJo, Timbaland, Magoo and Tank. As part of the deal, Reservoir, a boutique publishing company with top 40 hits from 50 Cent, Madonna and Justin Timberlake, will market Aaliyah's music to television and film, as well as release songs to online services like iTunes and Spotify where much of her music cannot be currently found. Additionally, the company will assist with licensing of songs for covers and sampling (Lafargue notes that there are talks of Dr. Dre sampling "Rock the Boat" for a new song).

"Part of taking new music to market is to release old music as well in different forms. There are tons of old interviews, video, things that were shot before her passing will be part of any and all repackaging. There are alternate takes and different remixes that never got released," says Lafargue. "The one thing that was just confirmed, the demand, was Aaliyah's 10-year anniversary of her passing. The ratings on the BET special were huge for that network and there's a demand for it. I believe that we recognize the demand and want to give her fans what they want."

NEW Song! Aaliyah feat. Drake - Enough Said

A posthumous song by Aaliyah featuring Drake has come online. Billboard reports that the song was posted by producer Noah "40" Shebib to Soundcloud and is titled "Enough Said." The cover art for the song bears the logo of Drake's October Very Own as well as Blackground Records, the latter of whom represents Aaliyah's estate. As previously reported, Drake is said to be executive producing the late R&B star's first posthumous album while Timbaland, who worked with her on several songs, is in the dark.

"I know they trying to drop some Aaliyah records, but if [Drake] do it, it should be with me and him, and Missy [Elliott]," Timbaland said in an interview with Power 105.1. "I don't know what's going on. The proper way to do that would be for me, him and Missy to be all on the record. For it to be on his record, that would not be right."

Aaliyah sounds amazing so Drake Needs to give the full song to Her!

Listen to the song here:
http://soundcloud.com/futuresounds-bgr/aaliyah-enough-said-feat-drake 

Timbaland Opens Up On Drake Releasing New Aaliyah Music: Notable/Quotable

"I know they trying to drop some Aaliyah records, but if he do it, it should be with me and Missy. The proper way for him to do that would be for me, him and Missy to be all on the record. But to put it on his record, would just not be right."

--Grammy award-winning producer Timbaland opens up on recent news of Drake reportedly releasing new Aaliyah music.

Keshia Chante's Ode to the late great Aaliyah & 90's R&B

Keshia Chante'

"I recently had the pleasure of working with the incredible Matt Barnes whose work I have been admiring for quite some time. I’ve been wanting to do a photo shoot like this forever &; I am so thrilled to see Matt take things to the next level. His work always feels like your inside of a movie &; I truly felt like a character in his film. My heart will forever be in love with old school R&B, especially the 90′s &; of course the late great Aaliyah &; I feel this shoot was an ode to that! We mixed some Liy, TLC, Brandy, Slick Rick, etc in this shoot &; it makes my heart flutter. Peep the old school phone, gold rope chains, pager, timbs, etc,. BIG thank you to the team: Matt Barnes, Tara, Janet Jackson of Jou Jou (hair), Dee Daly (makeup), Caitlin Wright (wardrobe stylist), Jennifer Hyland &; all the interns at Westside who helped make it special!!! I hope my KCRyders will love this. I’ve never felt more comfortable then this…"

Matt Barnes
"Canadian cultural mainstay Keshia Chanté was in front of Matt’s camera recently, so the two could give a nod to Aaliyah & throwback R&B, for a personal creative. An accomplished artist, whose life has been spot-lit since her early teens, Keshia is a Juno Award winner and chart topper, who has made the occasional foray into acting. The shoot, paying tribute to the singers that helped to influence Keshia’s career, was helped aesthetically along by makeup artist Dee Daly, hairstylist Janet Jackson, and wardrobe stylist Caitlin Wright. Ride the jump for the entire series." 

She looks so stunning in these photos! Props to Matt, Dee and everyone who put this together! What an amazing job you all did! Full photo credit goes to Matt Barnes, these are not my photos! Article credits: Keshia Chante' & Matt Barnes.

A proud part of http://www.aaliyahweb.com

Timbaland Remembering Making Are You That Somebody For Aaliyah

It has been 11 years since the beautiful Aaliyah left a mark on this earth musically.  That doesn't stop those who were close to her from reminiscing about special memories and time they spent with her musically.  One hit that he produced for Aaliyah was "Are You That Somebody".

It was produced in 1998 for the movie Dr. DoLittle.  The combination of his epic producing by Timbaland tacked with Aaliyah's voice was a combination for the ages leading to a Grammy Nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.  

It's great that these types are memories are being kept alive and its great that the people who worked so closely with her can reminisce about good times.

Timbaland compares Aaliyah and Beyonce

Timabaland still has faith that Aaliyah was the best in the game prior to her untimely death. The producer behind most of her hits even claims that if she was still alive, she would have been on Beyonce’s level. Sister2Sister Magazine reports that Timb even goes as far to say that their only difference was vocals – Aaliyah wasn’t as great of a singer. According to Mr. Magoo, Aaliyah might not have been a bigger star than Beyonce, but she would have been the first icon to use her star power out of the studio.

Lil Kim talks about her relationship with Aaliyah

Lil Kim talks about her memories of Aaliyah

“She was an angel. I never met a person in my life that has never gotten upset about anything. She had to be angelic. She was just a beautiful person. Inside, out, everything about her was just beautiful… She was just unexplainable.”

New Aaliyah album is not official

Rashad (Aaliyah's Brother) posted this on his official twitter.

"Statement: there is no official album being released and supported by the Haughton family."

Keshia Chante Breaks Silence on Aaliyah Movie

Keshia Chante Breaks Silence on Aaliyah Movie Status with Chris Yandek *Three years ago in an announcement across the world, it was reported singer Keshia Chante was reportedly set to play the role of Aaliyah in the biopic of her life. Three years later this month, Ms. Chante opens for the very first time ever telling Chris Yandek of CYInterview.com in a world exclusive in its entirety what happened with the Aaliyah movie, updates the status of the Aaliyah project and put all the rumors to rest. “I did meet a few people production company wise that are developing the Aaliyah movie and they spoke to me about playing her in the biopic of her life… And from my understanding, there are people trying to create a movie and Aaliyah’s family are still mourning her loss and aren’t ready to share her story and create a film. So there’s a bit of back and forth thing with her family and with creative people. And I know that they would bless a movie being created, they’re just not 100 percent comfortable and unfortunately from my understanding they don’t have complete control of her estate. So a movie could technically be made without them green lighting it and I kind of think that’s unfortunate. So I want her family to be on board and to be happy with it. It’s still kind of lingering in the air.” Ms. Chante explained why this was the perfect time to tell the world through interview journalist Chris Yandek what is the status of the movie that many Aaliyah fans want to see happen: “I’ve always wanted to kind of talk about it, it’s just really, it’s uncomfortable. I don’t want to disrespect her family. I know that they’re, they don’t like it. They don’t like when they get calls from people, like, ‘Oh, I heard this about your daughter. I heard this.’ Because it’s painful for them. So I know that the lawyer and even them and even my team who have kind of like you know, it’s happy, it’s better for everyone to not really speak on it and I just feel like you know, I’m not supposed to speak on it, but I know in this situation, yeah, it’ kind of, it’s a long time coming and I know people really want to know what’s going on. So yeah, I definitely think this was the perfect time to tell you.”

Credit: CYInterview.com

Aaliyah -Tribute-Inspired Look

Aaliyah -Tribute-Inspired Look (1-16-2012)
A makeup tribute for Aaliyah.

106&Park reveals details on the Aaliyah movie

106&Park reveals brief details on the Aaliyah movie

A new Aaliyah movie is in the works & the production is eyeing Canadian R&B singer, Keshia Chante as the lead role for Aaliyah.

Aaliyah Remembered by Ginuwine

Aaliyah Remembered by Ginuwine

On the Anniversary of Aaliyah's death- singer Ginuwine remembers their time together.

Aaliyah: Ten Years

It's been 10 years since R&B singer Aaliyah's tragic death. When the news of her private jet going down in the Bahamas shortly after filming the "Rock the Boat" music video reached the states, it struck an irreparable blow to the music world. Some artists and and music industry insiders came together to discuss the singer's musical impact in this exclusive BET.com video.

Remembering Aaliyah Nine Years After

August 25, 2001 was a tragic day for music lovers and fans of Aaliyah Dana Haughton or simply the mononym Aaliyah. She started at a very young age appearing on Star Search with Gladys Night, and at the age of 12 Aaliyah already had her first deal through her uncle Barry Hankerson. She was a musical prodigy to which her debut album Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number sold nearly 3 million copies in United states as certified by Recording Industry Association of America to be a double platinum. Her future albums sold equally well and in the movie Romeo Must Die, her soundtrack “Try Again” topped the Billboard Hot 100 only because of airplays making it the first song ever and Aaliyah the first artist ever to have made the feat.

As an actress, she played her role to the hilt as the Queen of the Damned it was to be her last film and her last album self titled Aaliyah when on August 25, 2001 after filming Rock the Boat in the Bahamas, her plane crashed killing eight others. Allegedly, Luis Morales II the pilot was found out to have been intoxicated with amounts of cocaine and alcohol found during the autopsy. Additional reports showed that the pilot was not licensed to fly the plane, having lied about his experience and the plane itself was overloaded which caused the plane to crash shortly before take off.

When she died, fans were in disbelief, when it was confirmed, they mourned her passing at the young age of 22. The world missed Aaliyah, her music was phenomenal. Her style was often duplicated by contemporar artists and future artist but few could ever hope to achieve what Aaliyah achieved. She will always be the Princess of R & B.

Aaliyah, we are still missing you.

Missing Aaliyah for 9 years

Aaliyah, the child prodigy-turned-pop-diva, died nine years ago on Aug. 25 in an airplane crash on her way back to the US from the Bahamas.

At age 14, the singer recorded her first album Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number released in 1994. She appeared on Star Search at the age of 9 and signed her first record deal at 12.

Her death still resonates within the hip-hop and R&B communities, as a recent MTV interview with Missy Elliott revealed.

“There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of [Aaliyah] or watch a video or play her music," Elliott told MTV in an interview published on Wednesday. “I miss her every day.”
Elliott, 39, was heavily involved in Aaliyah’s 1996 sophomore album One in a Million, which sold more than 2 million records.

“She was a very sweet spirit!” Elliott said of the 22-year-old singer. “Never seen her angry as long as I've known her, and in this business, that's unheard of!"

Singer Ciara tweeted: "RIP Aaliyah. U can NEVER be replaced!!" Also, Singer Ginuwine tweeted : "Rest in peace Aaliyah We miss you much "

Numerous figures in the hip-hop community, along with Ciara, reminisced over the singer's death, including Raekwon, Trina and Ne-Yo.

Rapper Talib Kweli tweeted: "RIP Aaliyah, who we lost exactly 9 years ago. We learned so much from you, you are forever missed."