Blackground Records famously held Aaliyah’s catalog back only to release it 20 years after her passing. While she is the indisputable star of their catalog, some may not have realized that she is not the only artist whose music they’ve been holding hostage. In addition to Aaliyah‘s music finally hitting streaming platforms, fans of Jojo, Timbaland, Toni Braxton, and Tank have also been treated to albums that have long since been pulled off the shelves.
R&B starlet JoJo might be the most popular example of how ruthless the suits over at Blackground Records are. After finding success in her pre-teens and scoring two #1 records, JoJo was trapped in her deal for about a decade, with all her work being shelved. As a result, the first two albums were not available to fans, and she was forced to release free mixtapes until she eventually got out of her deal.
Tank spoke out about the launch of Blackground 2.0 and the upcoming release of his music during a recent interview with RollingStone. The accomplished singer/songwriter has continued to have a successful career, but it was not easy as some of his biggest hits were not available to fans for a while. When asked how he feels about his music becoming available for streaming services, the R&B singer called it bittersweet. “It’s bitter because I’ve missed out on 10 years’ worth of revenue, 10 years’ worth of discovery.”
Because Tank was a prominent songwriter on all his work, he will probably stand actually to make some money back, but it’s unfortunate that he’s lost out on almost ten years of profits. Soon as his catalog was released on September 17th, the R&B crooner’s albums ‘Sex, Love & Pain’ and ‘Force of Nature’ landed number one and number three on the charts with Aaliyah’s self-titled album at number two.
Blessed!.. I love you all!!..💙
— Tank (@TheRealTank) September 17, 2021
R&B MONEY!!.. pic.twitter.com/nReTLLgdL4
Blackground 2.0 has a few more re-releases occuring throughout the next few weeks. JoJo’s self-titled album and Ashley Parker Angel’s “Soundtrack to You Life” is also scheduled for release on September 24th. Toni Braxton’s “Libra” album will be available for streaming on October 1st. While the singer has not commented on its re-release, in the past she has commented stating that it is her favorite project. Aaliyah also has two more albums becoming available on October 8th: ‘I Care 4 U’ and Ultimate Aaliyah Compilation album.
