The long-running battle between her estate, her uncle/ former manager and label chief Barry Hankerson has intensified after teasers about forthcoming music were posted on social media on Wednesday.
As many Aaliyah fans would know, her extensive catalogue has been kept off streaming websites allegedly due to the ongoing feud between her estate and her uncle. Many of her ardent supporters were happily surprised by the news and hoped that all involved were able to amicably settle the dispute, however, according to reports, it appears her estate had no hand in the announcement.
Reacting to the announcement, her estate released a statement on Twitter that reads in part, “For 20 years we have battled behind the scenes, enduring shadowy tactics of deception…this unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah’s music without transparency or full accounting to the estate compels our hearts to express a word forgiveness…”. The statement ends with the estate pledging to “continue to defend ourselves and her legacy lawfully.”
According to Variety, Barry Hankerson has been attempting to release a 2012 album of rare Aaliyah material which was executively produced by Drake.
The ‘Rock The Boat’, artist who was briefly married to R Kelly at the age of 15, died in a 2001 plane crash when she was just 22.