00:00 Earlier this month, it was reported that legendary R&B singer Aaliyah's music would be coming to streaming services.
00:05 Now that promise is finally coming to fruition. On the morning of August 5th, Blackground Records announced that Aaliyah's entire
00:12 discography alongside albums from Toni Braxton, JoJo, and Tank will finally be available on streaming services.
00:18 While fans jumped for joy, Aaliyah's estate released a message letting everyone know that this release of music was without their consent and was a
00:26 result of shadowy tactics to "leech off Aaliyah's life work."
00:30 Previous to these events, Aaliyah's music has been missing from streaming services for two decades.
00:35 In the 20 years since her death, her record label Blackground Records, co-founded by her uncle Barry Hankerson, and Aaliyah's estate have been
00:43 having an ongoing legal battle over the rights to her music.
00:46 According to a statement given by the estate's attorney, Paul LaCalce, virtually the entire remainder of her catalog has been
00:52 inexplicably withheld from the public by Blackground Records. Aaliyah's estate has always been ready to share Aaliyah's musical legacy.
00:59 The estate was not made aware of the impending release of the catalog until after the deal was complete and plans were in place.
01:04 Barry Hankerson has denied all of the estate's
01:07 accusations, claiming that he was following the family's wishes to not release Aaliyah's music and has now moved forward with the process of delivering
01:14 her music to the general public.
01:16 The first of Aaliyah's work that has been released is her
01:19 1996 project "One in a Million" produced by hip-hop tag team Missy Elliott and Timbaland.
01:24 This release resulted in Aaliyah being a trending topic on Twitter with fans bursting with excitement after finally being reunited with some of Aaliyah's hits
01:32 such as "Four Page Letter" and "If Your Girl Only Knew." In addition to fan adoration on social media,
01:37 the album has been skyrocketing up the charts, appearing at number one on the iTunes, R&B, and Soul chart.
01:43 Another fan pointed out that within an hour and a half of being released, her song's streaming numbers were already in the millions.
01:49 Have you already streamed Aaliyah today? How excited are you to be reunited with some of her hits?
01:54 Tell us all your thoughts in the comment section below.
01:56 below.
01:57 (upbeat music)
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