Timbaland and Missy Elliott have denied that they are being lined up for Aaliyah‘s posthumous album.
According to Billboard a statement from Elliot’s spokesperson says that the late singer’s closest collaborators “will not be participating” in the Drake and Noah ’40’ Shebib headed project.
“Although Missy and Timbaland always strive to keep the memory of their close friend alive, we have not been contacted about the project nor are there any plans at this time to participate,” Elliott’s manager Mona Scott-Young said. ” We’ve seen the reports surfacing that they have been confirmed to participate but that is not the case. Both Missy and Timbaland are very sensitive to the loss still being felt by the family so we wanted to clear up any misinformation being circulated.”
Missy Elliott added: “Tim and I carry Aaliyah with us everyday, like so many of the people who love her. She will always live in our hearts. We have nothing but love and respect for her memory and for her loved ones left behind still grieving her loss. They are always in our prayers.”
The statement comes just days after Aaliyah’s cousin Jomo Hankerson, who runs Blackground records with his father Barry Hankerson said that the pair were “definitely involved in the project”, which he hopes to release before the end of the year.
The album will feature 16 unreleased songs and “fragments” from Aaliyah’s archive, he said. It will be the first release since the late singer since 2002’s ‘I Care 4 U’ compilation.
Earlier this month (August 6) Drake unveiled a new posthumous duet with Aaliyah, titled ‘Enough Said’. The track, produced by Noah ’40’ Shebib, features a previously unreleased vocal hook from the singer, who died on August 25, 2001 in a plane crash. Scroll down to listen to it.
Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born in New York in 1979 and raised in Detroit. She released her debut album, the R Kelly-produced ‘Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number’, in 1994.
It was followed in 1996 by ‘One In A Million’ and her self-titled third album, which was released a month before her death in 2001 and has since sold over 13 million copies.