Aaliyah’s posthumous release enrages fans with all-male lineup
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Aaliyah was unstoppable — until all the voices on her posthumous record were men.
The highly anticipated album “Unstoppable” is set to be released this month nearly 21 years after her death.
But fans are already critical of the tribute, which features an all-male lineup including Chris Brown, Snoop Dogg, Drake, Ne-Yo, Future and the Weeknd.
“Imagine having the opportunity to create a new Aaliyah album with an entire generation of women that were directly influenced (Ciara, Teyana, Tinashe, Normani, Jhene, CxH, H.E.R., Sevyn, etc.) but instead we get Snoop Dogg, Neyo, Future, [Chris Brown] a weird Weeknd song … yikes,” an exhausted fan lamented on Twitter.
“Like no females at all??!!” another bewildered fan wrote. “Its mind boggling. Like I wanna listen cause it’s Aaliyah but majority of me really don’t wanna hear it.”
Fans were already let down by “Poison,” the only released track off the album so far. WireImage
Aaliyah fanatics were already disappointed last month by “Poison,” the only released track off the album, which features the Weeknd. Her legacy defenders called the song one of “the worst” songs they ever heard, critiquing the vocal mixing.
The Weeknd sampled the late singer’s “Rock the Boat” on his 2011 track “What You Need,” yet Aaliyah’s loyal followers are convinced “no one sampling her music/voice is doing anything worth a damn.”
Fans were also reeling at the inclusion of Brown, Rihanna’s abusive ex, given Aaliyah’s own troubled past with R. Kelly, who was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking.
After discovering the features on the posthumous record would be all men, fans were furious. WireImage
“Instead of featuring any of the Black female artists who were influenced by Aaliyah they featured … a bunch of predators and abusers?” jabbed one fan. “So disgusting considering what she went through.”
In 2009, a violent altercation between Brown and then-girlfriend Rihanna surfaced online, earning him a felony assault conviction and probation with community service. Since the incident, the 32-year-old rapper has been linked to multiple alleged assaults and violence.
Most notably, Brown’s ex Karrueche Tran received a restraining order against the rapper in 2017 after he threatened her and, more recently, Brown was accused yet again of hitting a woman in his Los Angeles home last year.
“The body of work is pure hip-hop and R&B,” Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah’s uncle, told Billboard about the upcoming record. “I think it’s going to be big with urban and R&B stations. Some of the people that Aaliyah liked are on the album. She loved Snoop Dogg, who’s done a great record in collaboration with Future. They’re going in now to refresh their vocals. Ne-Yo gave us an excellent song; also Drake.”
Despite what was originally thrilling news, the posthumous release has more fans annoyed than anything. NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via
Aside from the features contention, other superfans were more irritated by the mere idea of a posthumous release, which feels, according to one Twitter user, like a “cash grab.”
“I just don’t like the idea putting out so much heavily edited music after they have died period,” tweeted another. “Unless the songs were mostly done it just bothers my spirit.”
In the Billboard interview, Hankerson admitted he was not in contact with Aaliyah’s estate.
“We hope they’re happy. Our door and our phone is always available if there are any comments they’d like to make about anything,” he offered. “I just hope that out of the very terrible thing that happened to my niece that people can heal.”
Aaliyah Vigil dealing with loss of father, and stolen softball gear
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When somebody recently made off with Aaliyah Vigil’s bat bag, they took more than just some softball equipment. They stole her memories, as well.
Vigil, 14, who will be trying out for the Los Lunas High School team in the spring, recently lost her father, Carlos Vigil, to a heart attack.
Her gear was stolen the morning of his viewing. Her bat bag contained a customized Wilson glove and customized DeMarini bat that she and her dad had created together. Each was teal, blue and black, representing the colors of her longtime club team, the New Mexico Regulators. They also included her name and number, 12.
“He was all about helping the kids and their sports,” said Vigil’s wife, Erica Nelson. “He’d strive to get them everything they needed. Her and him, they made a custom glove and custom bat. They went on online and made it and designed it how they wanted it. It was something they did together.”
Vigil had been Aaliyah’s coach since she started playing almost as soon as she could walk, Nelson said, providing a tight bond between the two.
“It means a lot to me,” Aaliyah said of the equipment. “Me and my dad made it together and created together. He loved to coach me and stuff like that. He was the biggest part of my softball life.”
And now, two of the items that provided a direct link to her dad were taken.
“At first I was really sad about it because it was a lot of money and a lot of hard work put into it,” she said. “I was shocked.”
While the items can be replaced — and Nelson has tried to do that by re-ordering them both — it doesn’t make up for the lost connection, she said.
“It’s just not the same,” Nelson said. “I tried to make it close to what she had on there. I tried to make it better.”
The family believes the theft occurred after Aaliyah left the gear in the back of the truck following her first practice back after her father died.
“Her whole bat bag out in the back of the truck. She had practice on a Tuesday (Jan. 4) and we got home and it was really chaotic,” Nelson recalled. “It was a rough day for her. Her daddy has coached her since she was two. She was just shattered. It was stuff that really meant something to her. But there was a million people in the house, everybody was coming and going. She just forgot to get the bag out of the truck.”
After the family went to the viewing in Belen, they realized the gear was gone.
The family has posted photos on Facebook seeking help from the softball community and Aaliyah’s grandmother has offered a reward, but so far, there have been no sightings. Meanwhile, Aaliyah makes do with an old bat she had and uses her dad’s over-sized glove as she patrols the outfield, second base and occasionally catches.
“I just keep hoping somebody will see it somewhere,” Nelson said. “I think people just don’t realize the sentimental value of things in life.”
Suspect charged in shooting death of former Selma girls’ basketball standout
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A suspect has been arrested in the shooting death of a former girls’ basketball standout in Selma.
Tremark Atkins, 24, is charged with murder in the Sunday-night slaying of 20-year-old Aaliyah Hatcher.
Hatcher was shot multiple times on Selma’s Minter Avenue between I p.m. and 9 p.m. Sunday, according to Dallas County District Attorney Michael Jackson.
Hatcher was a star on Selma High School’s girls’ team and played her freshman year at Wallace Community College-Selma.
Jackson said the deadly shooting appears to be domestic related, but the relationship between Atkins and Hatcher wasn’t immediately clear. No additional details have been released.
Hatcher is Selma’s second homicide this year.
Inside a Deadly Bronx Fire: Scenes of Chaos, Desperation and Love
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“It’s going to kill everybody,” she said.
Mr. Romero looked at his wife carrying their unborn child, his 19-year-old son, Anthony, his 7-year-old daughter, Jlana, and summoned soothing words. “We’re here together. We’re going to be all right.” He said nothing about the fear ramping up in his mind.
Next door, in 12N, Tatiana Strahn, 28, grabbed a sweater and held it over her mouth, then charged out of her apartment. Her 2-year-old son, Owen, was three floors up at her aunt’s home, and nothing could stop her from going after him. Not so long ago, she had lost two family members in a fire in the Dominican Republic.
Her eyes stinging from the smoke, Ms. Strahn felt for the staircase walls to guide her up through the dark. On the 15th floor, she bumped into a boy about 8 or 9 years old who was on his way down. “What are you doing here?” she shouted. “Where’s your mom? Get into an apartment, get out of the stairs!”
His eyes were big and confused. “She’s coming down,” he said, then turned and scurried back up.
In the hallway, Ms. Strahn called out to her aunt: “Maria!” A door flung open. Her aunt rushed out carrying Owen, his face pressed into her neck. The three headed down the stairs.
Back inside her home, Ms. Strahn began to panic. Smoke was flowing in, and now she had six people to worry about. Aunt Maria who suffered from anxiety. Owen and her 4-year-old daughter, Leilani. The children’s father, Efrain Sifuentes, on his usual weekend visit, who had a broken leg and was on crutches.
Charely, her older sister from Connecticut, was also here, having surprised her for the weekend to tell her she was pregnant. She had brought her 11-year-old daughter, Yoriely. And then there were the two golden retrievers.
Ms. Strahn ordered everyone into the least smoky bedroom while she wedged blankets at the entrance to their duplex and attempted to seal the door’s edges with packing tape. Mr. Sifuentes filled pots with water to drench the area, hobbling back and forth from the sink.
Tributes to woman, 17, killed in Weston-super-Mare crash
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In a statement, her mother said that she was “taken just as your life was beginning and you were so excited for everything you had to look forward to”.