Earlier this week, the late R&B singer Aaliyah was catapulted back to music’s forefront when her label, Blackground, released a new Drake-assisted single, “Enough Said.” The single came amid news that a posthumous album may be on the way, and since then it’s been confirmed that Drake, Timbaland and producer Noah “40” Shebib are working on a new Aaliyah album. Now, Drake has revealed that Aaliyah fans can expect a new album by year’s end.
“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 music right now,” Drake explained during an interview with Much Music while backstage at his OVO Fest.
It was recently confirmed that Aaliyah’s family is backing the project and Drake says that new and old fans alike can expect at least 13 new songs from the singer, featuring some of her old musical friends and producers.
“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 [were] 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.”
Check out some other famous posthumous albums below. –nicholas robinson
