Aaliyah’s uncle apologises for delay in adding her music to streaming services

23 August 2021, 14:46 | Written by Cerys Kenneally

(News)

(Aaliyah)

Last Friday (20 August) Aaliyah's One in a Million album was uploaded to streaming services for the first time, and her uncle Barry Hankerson has since apologised for the delay on Instagram.

Earlier this month it was announced that Aaliyah's back catalogue will be released on streaming services for the first time. The music will be released digitally under a new partnership between Blackground Records 2.0 (fka Blackground Records) and EMPIRE, started with the late artist's One in a Million album last Friday (20 August).

Over the weekend Blackground Records 2.0 founder Barry Hankerson, aka Aaliyah's uncle, thanked fans via Instagram for supporting One In A Million. He wrote, "As the owner of Aaliyah’s catalog and label Blackground Records, I want to thank you all for allowing One In A Million to chart #3 in the world. I can not take the credit for managing Aaliyah as that was never a title I held. That title belonged to Diane Haughton and her husband who managed Aaliyah from the start of her career until her passing."

As well as thanking Haughton, her husband and Hankerson's son Jomo, Hankerson apologised for taking a long time to upload the music on digital streaming platforms, "Thank you to all of her many fans for keeping her music alive. I’m sorry it took so long, but when you lose a family member so unexpectedly, it takes time to deal with that type of grief. I decided to release Aaliyah’s music in order to keep her legacy alive."