Just days after Aaliyah’s brother posted a message on Aaliyah‘s Facebook page saying there was no official album “being released and supported by the Haughton family,” it appears that we are getting exactly that through the efforts of Drake.
At least that’s what Drake is saying in an interview with muchmusic.com recorded backstage at Drake’s OVO Fest in Toronto.
This is getting very confusing.
After Drake’s new single with Aaliyah, “Enough Said,” hit the web—to generally positive reviews—and a round of grousing from some fans and old Aaliyah producers like Timbaland that he and Missy Elliott should have been involved in the project, her brother Rashad Haughton put a statement on the Facebook Aaliyah fan page, saying, “There is no official album being released and supported by the Haughton family.”
That seemed to be the end of any talk of a new Aaliyah album. At least for two days.
But Drake’s backstage interview is the most detail that he (or anyone else) has provided on the project thus far. It certainly sounds like a go.
“People should be really excited. People thought it was my single; it’s not my single. It’s all off of an Aaliyah project that me and 40 are commanding and 40’s just doing some incredible, some incredible music right now,” Drake said.
“To get 13, 14 new Aaliyah songs, everybody should be excited. It’s not about me. It’s not about 40. It’s about her and her fans and us just getting the opportunity to give you something that we feel is great. And the people around her, everybody from her family to her old management and label, were like, ‘If there’s anyone out that can do it right now, it’s [you] and 40.’ And that was an honor and we’re going to pull in some classic people, anybody who used to work with Aaliyah that was essential in her career we definitely hope to have them involved. So it’s great. You get a new Aaliyah album this year on top of everything.”
MTV pointed out that while there’s been no response from Aaliyah’s family, the cover of “Enough Said” does feature the stamp of Blackground Records, which is run by her uncle Barry Hankerson, alongside Drake’s own OVO symbol.
