A posthumous album from the legendary Aaliyah is slated for later this month, according to her uncle and Blackground Records founder Barry Hankerson.
Unstoppable, as previously mentioned in a Billboard interview from December 2021, “will be out in January,” Hankerson confirmed to Geno Jones of Star 99.7.
Barry Hankerson confirms Aaliyah’s new “album” will be dropping this month. pic.twitter.com/n7AQpfvESr
— AALIYAH LEGION (@AaliyahLegion) January 4, 2022
The LP’s first single, “Poison,” featuring The Weeknd, arrived before year-end, receiving early buzz at R&B radio as the most added song the week of Dec. 18, 2021.
With more than 5.2 million streams on Spotify so far, the DannyBoyStyles and Nick Lamb-produced track has already reached No. 25 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart after two weeks.
Hankerson suspects the current focus single will heighten the anticipation for Aaliyah’s first studio album since her 2001 self-titled.
“Because of that success, we think it will only get better with people such as Ne-Yo, Snoop Dogg, Future, and Drake, one of her biggest fans,” he continued with Jones.
One big name left from his recent interview was Chris Brown, who Hankerson first teased last August would appear on the full-length record. He shared that Timbaland, a frequent collaborator of Aaliyah, produced the upcoming track.
“It’s vintage R&B with strong vocals. I look for that one to also get a very special reaction from listeners,” he told Billboard.
Unstoppable will be released via Blackground Records 2.0/EMPIRE.
In related music news, Hankerson overhauled tons of vaulted music on his rebranded label last summer, in partnership with EMPIRE, including material from Aaliyah. It included her studio albums and compilations One in a Million and I Care 4 U, to name a few.
