Aaliyah's Discography Will Finally Be On Streaming After 20 Years

Could the full Aaliyah discography finally be coming to streaming?

The singer, who died August 25, 2001 at the age of 22 in a plane crash that also took the lives of eight others, has had an indelible impact on music and pop culture at large. But fans have never been able to stream the iconic R&B artist’s most popular music. Her albums One In A Million (1996) and Aaliyah (2001), along with hit singles like “Are You That Somebody?” have never been available on digital streaming platforms.

Now, despite conflicting information from the late singer’s estate, both Spotify and Blackground Records, the label that first released Aaliyah’s music in the 90s, are teasing the release of her discography to streaming.

“Baby Girl is coming to Spotify,” the streamer tweeted, sharing that One In A Million, the self-titled Aaliyah, and at least two other records by the singer will be on the platform within the next three months.

Blackground Records, which was owned by Aaliyah’s uncle and former manager, Barry Hankerson, first started teasing the return of Aaliyah to streaming on Wednesday, August 4th, with “Blackground Records 2.0” sharing a new website and hashtag: #AaliyahIsComing.

As of today, August 5th, they also shared a series of posts on Twitter saying that “Aaliyah’s music will officially be available on all major digital streaming platforms,” and that physical albums will also be available to order.

However, the Estate Of Aaliyah Haughton also shared a statement on Wednesday, detailing how it has “battled behind the scenes, enduring shadowy tactics of deception with unauthorized projects targeted to tarnish.” The statement called out an “unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah’s music without any transparency or full accounting to the estate.” It continues:

Although we will continue to defend ourselves and her legacy lawfully and justly, we want to preempt the inevitable attacks on our character by all the individuals who have emerged from the shadows to leech off of Aaliyah’s life’s work. Ultimately, we desire closure and a modicum of peace so we can facilitate the growth of the Aaliyah Memorial Fund and other creative projects that embody Aaliyah’s true essence, which is to inspire strength and positivity for people of all creeds, races and cultures around the world.

The estate created its own hashtag — #IStandWithAaliyah — which Missy Elliott retweeted. Earlier this year, the estate said, “While we share your sentiments and desire to have Aaliyah’s music released, we must acknowledge that these matters are not within our control and, unfortunately, take time.”