Aaliyah’s second studio album, One In a Million, is now available to stream on Spotify. The album’s release on the streaming service comes ahead of the 20th anniversary of her death. To commemorate her lasting legacy, Spotify will be releasing the entirety of Aaliyah’s catalog over the next few weeks and will continue to do so through October, starting with One In A Million and later, the compilation albums I Care 4 U and Ultimate Aaliyah.
The news comes after a battle between the singer’s estate and her former manager. After Aaliyah’s tragic death in 2001, her estate — run by Aaliyah LLC on behalf of her mother, Diane, her brother, Rashad, and her former manager, Barry Hankerson — became embroiled in what would become a decades-long battle over the singer’s discography. Earlier this month, that battle was thrust back into the spotlight when Hankerson’s rebooted record label, Blackground Records 2.0, announced a partnership with the music distribution company Empire to release the brand’s entire catalog of beloved titles — which includes Aaliyah’s music. The rollout will also feature albums from artists like Toni Braxton, Timbaland & Magoo, Tank and more.
A statement from Empire explains that the partnership stems from Blackground’s “commitment to introduce Aaliyah and Blackground’s legacy to a new audience, re-engage longtime fans, and educate new fans about Aaliyah and Blackground’s undeniable impact on culture, fashion, visual art, music and more.”
“It has been a long time since the fans could enjoy Aaliyah and other artists on our catalog, and there has been a lot of changes in the music business since we took the music off the market,” Hankerson, who is also the singer’s uncle, told Billboard of the partnership. “We wanted to be sure to be with the right people, the right executives, and to give ourselves the right time to do the different things. So when you add all that up, it was a couple of years before we could even really consider putting the music out.”
