Drake's Aaliyah Album Is Halted, Producer Reveals Why
Drake fans may never get to witness an entire album full of new songs featuring unreleased material from the late singer Aaliyah.
Aaliyah died over 12 years ago in a plane crash at the age of 22. Drake, the 26-year-old chart-topping Canadian recording artist, was rumored to be executive producing the late singer's second posthumous album, according to HipHopDx.com in 2012.
Producer Noah "40″ Shebib opened up to Vibe magazine about how he and Drake became involved in creating a posthumous album for the superstar.
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"Aaliyah's label, Blackground -- the Hankersons, her uncle and cousin -- came to me and said, if she was around, she'd want you to do this [posthumous] project," Shebib told Vibe magazine. "I've been obsessed with Aaliyah forever, and I know Drake has his relationship with her. But that opportunity was mine. Drake said, 'Can I do it with you?' and I was like, 'Of course, we'll do it together.'"
Drake has been vocal about his love for the late singer throughout his career and has been pictured with her photograph embedded on the earpiece that he performs with. In 2011, he wrote an open letter to the deceased singer to express feelings for the woman he "truly loved."
However, some people have expressed concern with Drake working on posthumous Aaliyah tracks.
"In music people always say 'Imma do a song with Aaliyah'. It won't work," Timbaland, Aaliyah's former collaborator and producer told Revolt TV earlier this year. "Chris Brown got a record, it won't work. Drake can go do a record with Aaliyah, it ain't gonna work."
According to Timbaland, he is the only person who sounds good working with Aaliyah.
"Aaliyah's music will only work with its soulmate, which is me," Timbaland told Revolt TV.
Another one of Aaliyah's longtime friends and collaborators Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott previously disapproved of the idea of hearing an album full of unreleased vocals from the singer.
"We don't know what her reasoning for not putting those records out. Maybe she didn't feel like they were her best work," Elliot said on New York radio station Hot 97 last year. "We just don't want to tap into that, just spiritually something else you know ... very very touchy. Unless her parents came in and conducted that."
After hearing some of the negative reactions, Shebib decided to back away from the project.
"The world reacting to Drake's involvement so negatively, I just wanted nothing to do with it. That was a very sad experience for me," the producer told Vibe. "I was naïve to the politics surrounding Aaliyah's legacy and a bit ignorant to Timbaland's relationship and everybody else involved and how they'd feel."
While Timbaland told Shebib to do what he felt, the producer revealed why he ultimately felt like making the album with unreleased Aaliyah music was not the right thing to do.
"..Ultimately, I wasn't comfortable and didn't like the stigma," Shebib told Vibe. "I was seven songs deep. [Aaliyah's] mother saying, 'I don't want this out' was enough for me. I walked away very quickly."
