One In A Million

Aaliyah‘s 1996 sophomore album One In A Million was recently released on streaming services like Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music, and has subsequently shot up onto the Billboard 200. Right now, according to The New York Times, the Timbaland-produced project has cracked the Billboard Top 10. (For context, One In A Million peaked at number 18 when it first came out.)

The follow-up to 1994’s Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number, One In A Million officially hit streaming services earlier in August via a partnership between the singer’s original label, Blackground, and EMPIRE, the independent distributor. Within hours, it reached the top spots on nearly every service. Meanwhile, Aaliyah’s estate released a statement condemning the release, calling it an “unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah’s music without any transparency or full accounting to the estate.”

Blackground’s founder Barry Hankerson (who is also the late singer’s uncle), however, released a statement that thanked fans for their support. “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,” he wrote in the caption of an Instagram post. “I cannot 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. I want to thank Diane, Aaliyah’s manager, for allowing and choosing Blackground Records to become her label.”

Next up, the Romeo Must Die soundtrack is set to hit streaming services this Friday, September 3, and Aaliyah’s self-titled album will follow on September 10. Finally, her posthumous releases I Care 4 U and Ultimate Aaliyah will arrive on October 8.

One In A Million is out now via Blackground 2.0/EMPIRE. Get it here.

Blackground 2.0, the record label responsible for bringing Aaliyah‘s classic 1996 album One In A Million to streaming, has now commemorated the release with new merch. The collection includes a baseball jersey, sweatpants, and even a sports bra, evoking Aaliyah’s iconic uniform. You can check out the items on the Blackground Records website.

Aaliyah’s uncle Barry Hankerson is the Blackground co-founder and has stated his plans to release the rest of the late singer’s catalog to streaming in the near future. While he said he wanted “to keep her legacy alive,” Aaliyah’s mother and brother, who operate Aaliyah’s estate, have criticized his moves, writing in a statement:

“Now, in this 20th year, this unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah’s music without any transparency or full accounting to the estate compels our hearts to express a word – forgiveness. Although we will continue to defend ourselves and her legacy lawfully and justly, we want to preempt the inevitable attacks on our character by all the individuals who have emerged from the shadows to leech off of Aaliyah’s life’s work.”

That hasn’t stopped fans from enjoying One In A Million on services like Apple Music and Spotify. Meanwhile, the estate has claimed control of Aaliyah’s YouTube channel.

For nearly the entire decade or so that music streaming platforms have been a thing, there’s been one artist’s catalog more elusive than any other — that of late R&B singer Aaliyah Houghton, known mononymously as Aaliyah. Known for breaking boundaries and elevating the style in the late ’90s and early-2000s, as well as pioneering the first big breakthrough to Hollywood for hip-hop-generation R&B singers with hit films like Romeo Must Die and Queen Of The Damned, Aaliyah’s catalog has been subject to a legal dispute sparked by her death in 2001 that prevented her music from ever being provided to streamers.

That is, until recently. Today, for the first time, Aaliyah’s music became available on streaming via a partnership between her original label Blackground and Empire, the independent distributor, as One In A Million, her second album and first produced by Timbaland, hit streaming services. Technically, the label is now called Blackground Records 2.0 but it’s still under the ownership of Aaliyah’s uncle and former manager Barry Hankerson. Within hours, it had reached the top spots on nearly every service, to the joy of fans. Meanwhile, Aaliyah’s estate recently released a statement condemning the release, calling it an “unscrupulous endeavor to release Aaliyah’s music without any transparency or full accounting to the estate.”

That hasn’t stopped fans from rejoicing in the music’s availability, as multiple generations informed and influenced by such hits as “One In A Million,” “Try Again,” “Are You That Somebody?” and “Rock The Boat” re-discover her groundbreaking oeuvre. Blackground 2.0 intends to continue rolling out the remainder of Aaliyah’s catalog in the comings weeks, so don’t be surprised to see more of the same for a while. Check out the responses below.