The late R&B songstress Aaliyah has always been remembered and loved dearly by those who knew her best, including Norfolk, Virginia-native producer Timbaland. In 1996, he broke out into the mainstream by producing Aaliyah’s second album One in a Million , giving us the major hit single “If Your Girl Only Knew.” On Christmas day, Timbaland released a 16-track mixtape, King Stays King , which happens to feature a rare Aaliyah song titled “Shakin.” Over five months ago, the producer teased the song on his Instagram page.
Attention!!!!! People ask me all the time do I have any babegirl music we haven’t heard!!!!!well the answer is YES!!!!!!!! TIMBO x BABEGIRL!!!!! Sneak peak coming!!!!!!!
A photo posted by Timbo the King (@timbaland) on
It’s not at all surprising that Timbaland would be holding onto unreleased Aaliyah tracks.
“When I first met Aaliyah—it time for the world to hear this, I’m gonna give a little secret—I was in love with her,” Timbaland said on an episode of E!’s True Hollywood Story . “I said, ‘But I’m not…’ She just a baby, I’m old. I said to myself, ‘I’m just gonna be her brother.’ Oh man, I was fightin’, I was fightin’ a lot—a big war. But I loved Aaliyah.”
@mymixtapez King stays King out now
A photo posted by Timbo the King (@timbaland) on
Timbaland is extremely protective of the singer’s legacy and memory, as is her family. Her brother, Rashad Haughton, would not allow a follow-up to Aaliyah’s posthumous 2002 album, I Care 4 U , to be released. It was put together by producer J-Dub Walker, using demo vocals back in 2012. Aaliyah’s mother, Diane Haughton, shut down a tribute to her daughter, orchestrated by Drake, in 2014.
During an interview with Revolt TV , Timbaland let it be known that he was not happy with the attempts at tribute songs.
“People always say, ‘I’m going to do a song with Aaliyah.’ It will never work. Chris Brown got a record, it won’t work. Drake can go do a record with Aaliyah, it ain’t gonna work. Aaliyah music only work with its soulmate, which is me.”
What may be the most recent and egregious form of disrespect to Aaliyah and her memory was the 2014 Lifetime television movie, Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B . The TV biopic received poor reviews from critics and fans of Aaliyah, and Timbaland had some criticism for the project as well.
During an interview with The Breakfast Club , the talented producer let it be known that he was not at all pleased with Lifetime producing the biopic and refused to watch it. In addition, while it was airing, he posted several Instagram photos and memes, condemning the film.
WHY ARE YOU ROMANTICIZING PEDOPHILIA?! RT @lifetimetv : Is Aaliyah too young to know? #AaliyahMovie pic.twitter.com/RVmBKGOSGg
— Misandrynoir (@OHTheMaryD) November 16, 2014
The Lifetime network also earned criticism by depicting Aaliyah’s secret marriage when she was 15, to a 27-year-old R. Kelly, who wrote “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number” for her. Instead, it illustrates the singer’s parents as crazy and harsh for trying to stop the two from being together.
Prior to this, the project was already heading south during production , as reported by NY Daily News . Zendaya Coleman was first cast to portray Aaliyah Haughton, but later dropped out of the film, due to harsh criticism from fans saying she “wasn’t black enough” for the role. She was later replaced by Alexandra Shipp, who is playing Storm in next year’s X-Men: Apocalypse . The Haughton family also sought legal action, attempting to stop the film, which was being produced by TV personality Wendy Williams, from being made. They were successful in halting Lifetime from acquiring the rights for Aaliyah’s music.
Timbaland was also baffled by the completely inaccurate casting of the film. In the biopic, the producer is played by Izaak Smith, who bears not even the slightest resemblance to Timbaland. Missy Elliott, who was also very close with Aaliyah, is played by Chattrisse Dolabaille, who, coincidentally, also looks nothing like the person she was playing. Accusations of “whitewashing” soon arose.
“People, thanks for the comments tonight on that bulls**t Aaliyah movie,” Timbaland said . “They have felt Timbo’s wrath tonight, baby. And that’s it.”
But that didn’t stop Wendy Williams from defending her decision to produce the project.
“I see my Aaliyah movie broke the Internet this weekend! Errbody got an opinion. Well, I must tell you, whether you loved or hate, you watched. It was the second-highest rated movie on all of cable this year so far.”
The King Stays King mixtape is a prelude to Timbaland’s next official album, Textbook Timbo , due out in early 2016.
[Photo by Chris Weeks/Liaison]
