By Eddie J., Contributing Writer

Dear Lifetime,

I know you don't know me, or care to hear a blogger's input on the new collection of moving images you’ve just released entitled Aaliyah: Princess of R&B, so I'm not going to critique your “movie” or call it bad. I just have a legitimate survey for everyone involved in the project, including the actors that helped make it possible.

1) Do you know what due diligence (AKA research) is?
2) If so, was it done for this movie?
3) *Tamar Braxton voice* Are we sure?
4) Why was there auto-tune? 
5) Why did Aaliyah only own 2 pairs of sweatpants for the first 5 years of her career? 
6) Why couldn't homegirl (i.e. Alexandra Shipp) dance, especially since she was, you know, portraying someone known for choreography? 
7) Did the budget go over before a choreographer was booked?
8) Why did R. Kelly look like Treach from Naughty by Nature? 
9) Why was the Eiffel tower in England?
10) Why didn't anyone, including "Aaliyah," know how to correctly pronounce her name? It’s not Uh-liyah. It’s Aa-liyah, like Muhammad Ali, which brings me back to question 2.
11) Why was her dad African? 
12) Why did we get 2014 Missy Elliott portrayed in 1994? 
13)...With Kelly Rowland's old lopsided hairdo? 
14) Why did Damon Dash look like Shaun T with Sharpie tattoos? 
15) Why was pedophilia praised and romanticized in the film? 
16) Why was every character in the realm of light-skinned? 
17) Why do I have a light-skinned friend AND a dark skinned friend that looks like Missy Elliott, thanks to your movie depiction?
18) Why was 2012's "Make a Little Room" by Jarvis, background music for a scene set in 1992?
19) How did Iggy Azalea make the movie score/trailer?
20) Did we REALLY need two "kiss" scenes between a depicted 27-year-old R. Kelly with a 15-year-old Aaliyah?
21) Why did Kidz Bop provide the backing tracks for these songs?
22) Why could we see the camera crew's reflection in several scenes?
23) So...Aaliyah's parents were WRONG for ending R. Kelly's pedophilic relationship with Aaliyah?
24) ...And Aaliyah was mad at them and heartbroken over it for 8 years?
25) Did losing some rights to Aaliyah's image mean losing rights to her talent as well?
26) When in the One in a Million era did Aaliyah grind on shirtless men and feel on their abs?
27) Was this a prank?
28) Do you know what Aaliyah's name means?
29) No? Well...look it up and then tell us the irony of the movie you made.

In conclusion:
Dear White People (yeah we're going there, briefly): this just in...Making a movie about a black celebrity solely for capital gain with no knowledge or care for their legacy is a form of racism.
Dear Black People: Even if the struggle is real for you as an actor, writer, producer, etc., think twice before you put your name on someone else's material as a blatant pawn. Money isn't always worth respect.

P.S.: I hope you fire the “genius” who saw Aaliyah trending on Twitter twice a year for the last 6 years or so and thought "We could make money off this! And show this film twice a year--her birthday and day of death!" 

P.S.S: You tried it...and failed.

P.S.S.S.S.: Oh, and extend to your lead actress too, if no one else. “Try Again,” your alleged favorite Aaliyah song, was on the 2000 Romeo Must Die soundtrack, not from the One in a Million album in 1996, Alexandra.

Signed,

Eddie J.

Note from J.Says: I did not watch this “movie,” nor did I want to, especially after I learned that talk-show host Wendy Williams, who shamelessly makes her money spreading lies and festering rumors about public figures and jokes about their misfortunes, became an executive producer. After reading reviews, it’s confirmed I made the right decision to not support it with my ratings. Just the notion that Aaliyah’s life and legacy would not be done justice is severely unsettling and upsetting to me. I commend Zendaya Coleman, the film’s original lead, for having the courage to back away because she felt the same way. I hope eventually there will be a quality piece of work that will expose Aaliyah to those unfamiliar with her. This project coming to fruition just makes me miss her more.

Every year on or around January 16th and August 25th, I usually do something to commemorate the life of R&B singer Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in 2001. Since I’ve had this blog, I’ve written tribute pieces, trying to describe and relay to my audience why Aaliyah was so important to music, to me and why losing her still impacts me to this day, but it seems there are never enough words to fully convey it. For those who adore and appreciate her as I do, I need not explain, but there are many who the significance is lost upon (for various reasons). These people were once again mystified when there was such a strong reaction to news of the production and casting of an Aaliyah biopic on the Lifetime network.

For years, there were stirrings that some form of a film was in the making. Fans were split about whether or not a movie should happen. Some were flat-out against the idea, saying “let her rest.” Others formed their opinion based on how Aaliyah’s family felt (the latest statement was given by Aaliyah’s cousin and record label associate, Jomo Hankerson, who said the desire was for a major studio release, not a TV movie). The remaining portion of her followers were adamant about seeing Aaliyah’s story onscreen, but only if it was done “right:” a non-salacious and quality script, brilliant actors with close-enough likeness and involvement with her family and/or close friends, like her primary creative partners, Missy Elliott and Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley. A similar reactionary effect would occur anytime there were rumors of posthumous music. Hankerson ceased development of an alleged duet album produced by Drake and Noah “40” Shebib that would pair Aaliyah’s unreleased vocals with various artists after a backlash from fans and disapproval from her immediate family. Despite Drake making his adulation for Aaliyah extraordinarily known, fans just weren’t comfortable with anyone touching her music but Elliott and Mosley. To put it lightly, there was a less-than-enthusiastic response in June to 17-year-old Disney star Zendaya Coleman being cast as Aaliyah for the Lifetime project, with complaints that she may not have the acting chops, didn’t resemble Aaliyah enough and wasn’t the proper race even (Coleman is half black and half white). Let me just say, though I didn’t think Coleman was the best fit, she is a very talented young lady and claiming that she isn’t “black enough” because of part of her lineage and sending her hate messages is divisive, ignorant and cruel. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program…showing how guarding of the Aaliyah brand Zendaya is herself as a fellow devotee, she pulled out of the film, stating “…the production value wasn’t there, there were complications with the music rights, and I just felt like it wasn’t being handled delicately considering the situation…I tried my best to reach out to the family on my own and I wrote a letter, but I was unable to do so, therefore, I felt not really morally okay with moving forward with the project.”

Why is it all such a big deal? Why are we so protective when it comes to all things Aaliyah? We have different ideas on how things should be handled posthumously, but it’s all for the same reason. It’s because her story is unfinished. We got 2 fantastic albums that left us terribly yearning for another. When Aaliyah took a hiatus to reportedly finish school (she was really a teenager, huh?), many begged “When are you coming back?!” There was so much excitement about the things to come (which included a budding acting career) once there was buzz she had returned to the studio. We were eager to be reunited with our princess, our “cool older sister,” our BFF in our heads. We were granted with a simply timeless self-titled record after 5 years in July 2001, but just 39 days later, Aaliyah died. She was only 22….22. Her style and musical contributions to the history of R&B are indelible and iconized (a little more on that in a moment), but there’s a heartbreaking sense of unfulfillment because we knew the carving in the wood would’ve been driven even deeper. That’s why there are dozens of articles from magazines and blogs hypothesizing how our musical lives would’ve changed or been enhanced had she lived. In “Rock&Rant: Hip-Hop Killed R&B,” I suggested that R&B lost its identity while meshing with hip-hop.  Considering that Aaliyah was 1 of the pioneering figures in R&B’s hip-hop merger, could the influence of her ever-novel work with Missy and Timbaland have kept the genre from going off-course? We knew what she was, we knew what we had and we wanted the world outside of our own to see it, and since Aaliyah is not here to execute that dream, we circumspectly appraise anyone (or anything) that attempts to do it for her. We don’t want her narrative and definition to be altered or presented in a way that is not true to her essence.

Below is a gallery of some my favorite Aaliyah photos. Share your favorite photos by either commenting on this article & including a link, OR by posting a photo on the JSaysOnline Facebook wall. Also, feel free to comment here to share your memories or list your favorite songs. My favorite album is the last self-titled one, and my favorite song-HANDS DOWN- is "I Don't Wanna" (soundtrack single). It always makes me smile and I can listen to it over and over. See last year's tribute here.