Drake Co-Producing Posthumous Aaliyah Album, Label Confirms

Erika Goldring/Getty Images; Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Drake will co-produce Aaliyah's posthumous album and Timbaland and Missy Elliott will be involved in the project, the R&B singer's label, Blackground Records, confirms to Billboard. Drake and his close collaborator, Noah "40" Shebib, will co-produce the LP using 16 unreleased tracks and "fragments" as source material. Blackground, run by Aaliyah's cousin Jomo Hankerson and his father Barry, hopes to release the album by the end of the year.

"We really felt like it was time. There's a real new generation that doesn't know her necessarily, and we wanted to continue her musical legacy with this new generation. That's one of the reasons why we wanted to do very contemporary music," said Hankerson. "We didn't want to make it a nostalgic project; we already did that with the 'I Care 4 U' album. The idea was to release new music for her diehard fans, and also reintroduce her music to a new generation that doesn't really understand how much influence she has in the music that they're listening to today."

While Hankerson did not specify if Timbaland had already produced tracks for the album, he did reveal part of Missy Elliott's involvement. "One of the records that we had that was never released was a Missy record that we obviously are going to be refreshing," he said. Still, Hankerson made clear both artists will work on the project. "I can tell you that Timbaland will definitely be involved, Missy will definitely be involved," he said.

At first, Hankerson denied Drake had signed on as a producer, downplaying his contributions to song appearances. But Blackground later reached out to Billboard to confirm Drake's role as executive co-producer.

Earlier this week, a new Aaliyah track featuring Drake was posted online by Blackground. Aaliyah died on August 25th, 2001, in a plane crash. She was 22. The Drake-produced record would be her second posthumous album, following 2002's I Care 4 U.

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Drake Co-Producing Posthumous Aaliyah Album, Label Confirms

Erika Goldring/Getty Images; Kevin Mazur/WireImage

Drake will co-produce Aaliyah's posthumous album and Timbaland and Missy Elliott will be involved in the project, the R&B singer's label, Blackground Records, confirms to Billboard. Drake and his close collaborator, Noah "40" Shebib, will co-produce the LP using 16 unreleased tracks and "fragments" as source material. Blackground, run by Aaliyah's cousin Jomo Hankerson and his father Barry, hopes to release the album by the end of the year.

"We really felt like it was time. There's a real new generation that doesn't know her necessarily, and we wanted to continue her musical legacy with this new generation. That's one of the reasons why we wanted to do very contemporary music," said Hankerson. "We didn't want to make it a nostalgic project; we already did that with the 'I Care 4 U' album. The idea was to release new music for her diehard fans, and also reintroduce her music to a new generation that doesn't really understand how much influence she has in the music that they're listening to today."

While Hankerson did not specify if Timbaland had already produced tracks for the album, he did reveal part of Missy Elliott's involvement. "One of the records that we had that was never released was a Missy record that we obviously are going to be refreshing," he said. Still, Hankerson made clear both artists will work on the project. "I can tell you that Timbaland will definitely be involved, Missy will definitely be involved," he said.

At first, Hankerson denied Drake had signed on as a producer, downplaying his contributions to song appearances. But Blackground later reached out to Billboard to confirm Drake's role as executive co-producer.

Earlier this week, a new Aaliyah track featuring Drake was posted online by Blackground. Aaliyah died on August 25th, 2001, in a plane crash. She was 22. The Drake-produced record would be her second posthumous album, following 2002's I Care 4 U.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Women Guitarist Christopher Reimer's Solo Material Gets Posthumous Release

Christopher Reimer of Women performs at The Harley in Sheffield, England.

Friends of Christopher Reimer, the guitarist for the Canadian post-punk band Women who died in his sleep February 21st, have made available The Chad Tape, a collection of music Reimer was working on before his death, Pitchfork reports.

The Chad Tape comprises tracks Reimer had completed for a solo project of ambient music, which fellow Calgary musician Chad Van Gaalen had offered to release.

Although the project remains incomplete, Reimer's friends assembled the songs and are planning a posthumous cassette release, complete with artwork and writing from Reimer himself. While there will be a limited number of cassettes released, the music is also available to stream and purchase digitally on Bandcamp. 

Proceeds from The Chad Tape will go to the Chris Reimer Legacy Fund, which helps provide children with scholarships in music and dance education.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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