Timbaland: Aaliyah collaborations only work 'with its soulmate'

Timbaland: Aaliyah collaborations only work ‘with its soulmate’

By Gerrick D. Kennedy

July 24, 2013 12 AM PT

Fans of late R&B-pop; star Aaliyah waited more than 10 years to hear officially released work from the singer — which finally happened courtesy of a 2012 single featuring Drake and Chris Brown, who used her vocals on his latest single.

But the posthumous collaborations and any further planned productions “won’t work,” according to Timbaland.

The multi-platinum hitmaker, along with longtime collaborator-friend Missy Elliott, are undoubtedly synonymous with the singer’s music, having helped her define and reinvent the sound of ’90s urban music.

Typically tight-lipped when it comes to discussing Aaliyah — she and eight others perished in a plane crash in 2001 after a music video shoot — Timbaland opened up in a new interview with Diddy’s new network, Revolt TV, and shared his feelings on the singles. And he’s not a fan.

“People always say, ‘I’m going to do a song with Aaliyah.’ It will never work,” he said. “Chris Brown got a record, it won’t work. Drake can go do a record with Aaliyah, it ain’t gonna work. ’Cause Aaliyah music only work with its soulmate, which is me.”

More than a decade after her passing, fans got a glimpse of some of the unfinished vocals she left behind with two records.

Last year Drake issued “Enough Said,” which featured a previously unheard Aaliyah vocal over the low-end sounds of the rapper’s longtime producer Noah “40” Shebib.

The chilling single was reported to launch a posthumous album from the singer, with Drake at the helm as executive producer. A few more records leaked online on the singer’s birthday in January but were quickly taken down.

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Brown issued his latest single, “Don’t Think They Know,” in June that featured outtakes of a previously heard vocal from the late singer, and she appears in the video in the form of holograms taken from her videos.

Timbaland and Elliott have had no involvement in the posthumous releases. As for that posthumous album? Fans are waiting.

Check out the interview below where the producer also spills the beans on an upcoming Nas collaboration: