2021 has been a big year for fans of Aaliyah — mainly because the label that has control over her music, Blackground Records, decided to liberate her albums onto streaming platforms for fans to enjoy. Now, said label is working on a posthumous body of work from the late songstress, and (today, Dec. 17) has officially kicked things off with the booming ballad “Poison.”
Featuring The Weeknd, the Mike Dean-produced track sees the two harmonizing about being fully engulfed in what’s clearly a toxic relationship:
“Oh, can I explain myself to you? Questions been lurking through my mind, is it the lover for the time? I’ve given my heart, my joy, my soul to you, if it is real, I sure can’t see, gotta start lookin’ out for me, and in my, my heart won’t take no more, I know you say that I don’t care, sometimes my way of life ain’t fair, I feel it’s sad for me, you take the chance, so you are givin’ me no choice…”
It’s been 20 years since we first heard Aaliyah’s self-titled studio LP, which saw 14 tracks and contributions from Timbaland, Static, Missy Elliott, Rapture Stewart, and more. In addition to its critical acclaim, Aaliyah landed at the number two spot during its first-week debut thanks to 187,000 copies sold at the time. Unfortunately, Aaliyah would lose her life months later due to a now-infamous plane crash — as a result, said album would skyrocket to number one and earn the Detroit-based talent Gold and Platinum plaques around the world.
In related news, Raekwon revealed to Vlad TV that Ghostface Killah has a secret relationship with the fallen star. Said interview was in promotion of the Wu-Tang emcee’s new book From Staircase To Stage.
Press play on both Aaliyah and The Weeknd‘s “Poison,” as well as the aforementioned sit-down with Raekwon, below.