Lifetime Plans to Use Zendaya’s Vocals Over Aaliyah’s for Biopic!

During an interview with the Ryan Cameron Morning Show on V103 Jomo Hankerson Aaliyah’s cousin and president of Blackground gave an interview on the family’s behalf. Apparently the family owns the rights to Aaliyah’s music and Lifetime is challenging that.

The network is planning to incorporate the music just with different vocals. They plan on letting the actress Zendaya sing Aaliyah’s songs. That is so disrespectful how people can just make movies without a families blessing. I am disgusted. Here’s what her cousin had to say.

Quotes from the Interview credit Bossip

On why the family is against the Lifetime biopic:
We feel like [television’s] really not the right platform. Aaliyah was a legend. She was a hugely influential artist on our culture… I think that she deserves the treatment of a ‘Walk The Line’ (about Johnny Cash) or a ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’ (about Tina Turner). A big, major movie.

Read More About Aaliyah

On other problems with Lifetime doing the biopic & Zendaya playing the lead role:
You know, first of all, Aaliyah went through a similar situation after teh R. Kelly thing so, I hate to see a young woman go through that kind of backlash that she’s getting. She’s just trying to get a certain job so, it’s not her. Our problem is with Lifetime and the way that they did the project. I know that there’s gonna be certain things that they don’t cover, simply because they don’t have the knowledge.

My one problem with what Life time is doing musically is that they’re actually having the young lady re-cut Aaliyah’s vocals. So to hear somebody else on top of that….I can’t imagine somebody signing “One In A Million” as if she’s Aaliyah. That’s unfathomable to me.

On who should play Aaliyah in a biopic:
I would love to get Zoe Saldana. I think she could pull off the acting part and she’s obviously gorgeous and beautiful

On whether or not Aaliyah and R.Kelly were actually married:
Well, umm, I’ll let that come out in the movie.

It won’t be in this movie, but it will come out one day. It’s not my place or the forum for me to really get into that, that’s why I just back off that.

On their relationship being controversial:
It was, at the time, it was….she was huge. He was huge…It was a lot of things going on like that. I think it was just indicative of the times. When you hear that first album [which R.Kelly helped produce] it was obviously a lot of creative chemistry.

On Aaliyah being snubbed by the music industry because of her relationship with R.Kelly:
Aaliyah got villainized — that’s the part that I never understood and that’s what made the transition to the second album difficult…It was hard for us to get producers…

Listen to the full interview here CLICK HERE