Canadian hip-hop artist, Polaris short lister and sometimes-crooner, Drake recently released a single featuring deceased R&B starlet, Aaliyah. The release of the single accompanied his announcement of a posthumous Aaliyah album, executive produced by himself.
The song received both praise and flack. On one hand, the moody, washed out production was a suitable backdrop for her signature smoothed out vocals. It highlighted the mystique that made her so appealing.
However, Aaliyah's contribution - vocals plucked from unreleased demos - came off more as piecemeal than a complete song.
Many also criticized Drake for being presumptuous in assuming the role as Executive Producer of Aaliyah's album. Some say he's riding the wave of her recent resurgence in popularity. She's the epitome of the early 2000's R&B that's influencing dance music producers such as Kingdom, Hudson Mohawke and Montreal's Lunice.
Perhaps her legacy is too precious to be tampered with by Drake. We're happy remembering Aaliyah in the days of Tell Me Are You That Somebody.
You tell me. Was Drake out of line?
What do you think of the idea of a posthumous record? If you could musically resurrect an artist for one more album, who would it be? Or, on a less morbid note, who would you pull 'out of retirement' for one more record?