S. Samuel
Grammy-winning producer Timbaland recently spoke on the legacy late singer Aaliyah left behind and why no artists will be able to succeed by making posthumous records with her vocals.
In Timbo’s perspective, neither rap star Drake or R&B heavyweight Chris Brown can win despite their love for the late musician.
“In music, people always say, ‘I’ma do a song with Aaliyah.’ It will never work. Chris Brown got a record; it won’t work. Drake could do a record with Aaliyah; it ain’t going to work. Aaliyah music only work with its soulmate, which is me. That’s why when Drake did ‘Started From The Bottom,’ it was a totally different sound and Drake told me, ‘I had to really battle with myself. I want to be the first person to change.’ So when he said that, it’s like, you’re going to be around for a long time. I talked to big brother Jay[-Z] and said, ‘Yo, we gotta embrace this young soldier. You got to embrace this guy. You got to put our arm around him and really like, try to add to the bloodline.'” (Revolt TV)
Last September, Timbo tried to place some context behind Drizzy’s love for the late singer.
“I don’t even know if it’s an album, I don’t think that’s in the works. I don’t know, I think it’s blown out of proportion. I haven’t spoken to Drake yet. I have a hard time just hearing her music,” Tim said when asked about the reported LP. “[His obsession?] To me…..the tattoo part, did that man come in here and show ya’ll. Like lift up his shirt, I mean they said pictures are online.” (Hot 97)
Last summer, Drake talked about working on a potential posthumous Aaliyah project.
“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, some incredible music right now,” Drake revealed in an interview. “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 was 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.” (Much Music)
While initially embraced by many, the news caught some Aaliyah friends off-guard including Ruff Ryders’ DMX.
“Drake,” X said when asked what artists he feels are not talented. “He is [talented], he has talent but it’s kind of redundant. It’s kind of the same all the time, sounds the same, to me, personally, it’s like an annoying sound. [noises] It’s like a washing machine. [noises] Or a dryer. [noises] You know what, I don’t even have to explain why. I just don’t like what it is and I’m kind of feeling some kind of way about the fact you’ve commissioned, you’ve been blessed, you’ve been given the opportunity to do the Aaliyah album yet you don’t include anybody that she worked with personally? What part of the game is that? I’ma tell you why I’m mad, son! There’s a reason why I feel the way I feel. How do you do that? How do you disregard what this woman did, what this beautiful angel did.” (MTV RapFix)
Check out Timbaland’s interview:
