Fans of the late R&B singer Aaliyah rejoiced after the record label that owns her masters announced that the majority of her music would finally be available to stream soon.
The record company, renamed Blackground Records 2.0, says it will begin re-releasing the late singers output starting with her second album, One In A Million, which is due out on August 20.
But even as it moves to finally make her music widely available, the singer's estate accused Blackground of failing to be transparent about its new deal.
Back at last: The majority of the late singer Aaliyah's recorded output is set to finally be released on streaming services 20 years after she crash at age 22.; Aaliyah pictured in 1994
A website owned by Aaliyah's record company Blackground Records appeared this week with a cryptic homepage featuring the hashtag, '#aaliyahiscoming.'
The record company, which was co-founded and co-owned by her uncle Barry Hankerson, is joining forces with the indie label EMPIRE to put her remaining albums on streaming services.
Previously, only her first album, the R. Kelly–produced Age Ain't Nothing But A Number, and some early singles were available to stream.
Meanwhile, her mature output, including her albums One In A Million and her self-titled third album, have been unavailable to stream and have even been out of print on CD.
Used copies and Japanese imports are still available, though sometimes for extravagant prices.
Coming soon: Aaliyah's record company Blackground Records will release her second album One In A Million on August 20, followed by her third self-titled album (pictured) in September
Hard to find: Only Aaliyah's first R. Kelly–produced album has been on streaming, while her other albums are even out of print on CD; seen weeks before her death in 2001
Fans can already preorder CD and vinyl reissues of Aaliyah's albums, and those with streaming subscriptions can sign up to pre-download the LPs.
The hitmaker's self-titled album will follow in September, after which the label will release her posthumous compilations I Care 4 U and Ultimate Aaliyah.
Blackground Records' dormant status affected more than just Aaliyah.
The pop singer JoJo recorded her first two album with Blackground Records, but they didn't make the jump to streaming due to the label's dysfunction.
She responded by recording the LPs and releasing new versions in 2018, a path Taylor Swift has recently followed after her early masters were bought up.
The new deal means that the original version of JoJo's albums will soon be released, as well as older albums from Toni Braxton, the producer Timbaland and others.
More to come: In addition to rereleasing Aaliyah's music, the label will also rerelease long-unavailable LPs by Toni Braxton, JoJo, Timbaland and others
The singer's estate previously released a statement in August of last year promising Aaliyah's music would be
