Soon enough, faithful Aaliyah fans may not have to rely on a YouTube playlist to stream their favorite hits (that is, if you don’t own any physical copies). For a long time, that was the only way that you could enjoy the late R&B singer’s discography, as the majority of the “Try Again” performer’s work has been kept off of Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services. But all of that may change in the near future, according to her estate. On Tuesday afternoon, Aaliyah Haughton’s official Twitter account released an encouraging message on the 19th anniversary of her death, stating that communication has commenced with a number of record labels in an effort to make her music available to the public.
“We are excited to announce that communication has commenced between the estate and various record labels about the status of Aaliyah’s music catalogue, as well as its availability on streaming platforms in the near future,” the message reads. “Thank you for your continued love and support. More updates to come!” While the message doesn’t offer any specifics, it the most promising update that fans have received on the matter.
Aaliyah was killed in a plane crash on August 25, 2001 at the age of 22. While locating the music of our deceased favorites is typically a breeze (unless, of course, we’re talking about Prince, who famously managed to keep his hits off of platforms until after his death), the bulk of Aaliyah’s discography was locked down by her uncle, producer Barry Hankerson. As of now, the only music that is currently available to stream is her first LP, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number, and a collection of EPs, all of which Hankerson does not control. Hankerson founded and ran the now defunct label Blackground Records, which housed acts like Timbaland & Magoo and JoJo—the later of which also had immense trouble with her masters and had to rerecord her hits just to make them available to the current public.
In any case, we hope that this will all somehow lead to remastered versions of her Aaliyah’s videos. “We Need A Resolution” should be enjoyed with cinematic clarity.