Aaliyah Enters Spotify 20 Years After Tragic Death

Aaliyah has been honored by Spotify by including one of her hit albums on the streaming site nearly 20 years after her death.

Multiple news outlets confirmed that Aaliyah's 1996 album, "One in a Million," is now part of the largest music site.

Blackground Records 2.0 and Empire, a music distribution company, entered a joint deal to put Aaliyah's hit on the app. They also agreed to put effort into putting all her albums to other streaming services.

Spotify also disclosed the news to its listeners through its official Twitter account.

As of the writing, the collaboration aims to send the singer's albums - "Aaliyah," "I Care 4 U," "Ultimate Aaliyah," and "Romeo Must Die" soundtrack - until October.

However, the plans are not being well-received by her estate and fans, calling the move a disrespectful tactic to "release Aaliyah's music without any transparency or full accounting to the estate."

The records have not released a statement yet in response to the estate and some fans' petition.

The Fight Over Aaliyah's Discography

The news came after Aaliyah's former manager and uncle, Barry Hankerson, ended the decades-long battle with her estate over her discography.

In an interview with Billboard, Hankerson said they aim to give Aaliyah's fans something to enjoy even after her death. The team reportedly wants to adapt to the changes in the music business after being on hiatus for a long time.

"We wanted to be sure to be with the right people, the right executives, and to give ourselves the right time to do the different things," he said at that time. "So when you add all that up, it was a couple of years before we could even really consider putting the music out."

The estate, however, published another statement and criticized the label.

It mainly expressed its desire to protect the singer's legacy. The estate then defended Aaliyah from unauthorized projects like the ones being launched by Hankerson.

To mark the 20th year since her tragic death, the estate wants to offer forgiveness before clarifying it will continue to defend Aaliyah's works.

It ended its statement by saying it desired "closure and a modicum of peace."

Aaliyah's team might face double headaches soon, as the singer's name had been mentioned in R. Kelly's recent trial. During the court appearance, prosecutors said that the singer was also one of the victims of the disgraced singer, but R. Kelly's lawyers said she could not testify anymore since she is already dead.

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