Aaliyah‘s new song “Poison” from the late R&B icon’s upcoming album, Unstoppable, has been released, and, well, a lot of fans appear to be disappointed. The song features The Weeknd, who might as well change his name to “The Monday” because everyone hates it.
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OK, that’s a bit hyperbolic; there’s probably plenty of people who like the song, but some think it sounds “sloppy” and needs to be remastered in order to capture the gloriousness that was Aaliyah.
But before we get into all that, let’s start with a little info on the new release.
According to Complex, “Credits for the first official new Aaliyah release in more than a decade includes production from DannyBoyStyles and Nick Lamb, writing contributions from The Weeknd and the late Static Major, along with Mike Dean (mixing) and Shin Kamiyam (engineering) putting their touch on the record.”
“I’m so excited to share this new song by Aaliyah and the very talented The Weeknd,” Blackground Records founder Barry Hankerson said in a statement. “I wanted her adoring fans to get a special gift before the holidays and felt it was the perfect time to release a never-before-heard offering.”
But fans appear to be significantly less excited about the new release than Hankerson is. Now, to be fair, it doesn’t appear to be the song itself that people don’t like, they’re just not feeling the production value. I mean, it isn’t as bad as back in the late ’90s/ early 2000s when rappers were slapping random 2Pac verses on songs and just polluting our ears with grainy vocals that just barely matched the beats they were laid over. Still, the general consensus appears to be that the song either needs to be remastered, or there will remain only one “Poison” the Black delegation recognizes.
OK, but not everyone hated it.
Some listeners actually liked it while others at least thought it wasn’t the most terrible thing ever created since Taylor Swift‘s woefully unseasoned acoustic cover of Earth Wind & Fire’s “September.” (I deeply apologize for re-traumatizing anyone who didn’t need a reminder of that caucasified monstrosity of anti-Black cookout proportions. I was just trying to take some of the heat off of the “Poison” producers.)
But anyway, don’t let people who hate things influence your opinion on Aaliyah and The Weeknd’s new song.
Listen for yourself and tell us what you think.