A legal fight over the music catalog of the late United States singer Aaliyah remains active in a Georgia court, where Barry Hankerson and his son Jomo Hankerson are fighting over Blackground Records royalties.
In May 2021, three months before the catalog returned to market after a decade of estate infighting, family members signed a deal to split royalties once Blackground Records began earning from the music again. That contract soon became the subject of lawsuits, and five years later the court fight is ongoing. The family had been known for feuding during the decade the music was out of circulation, and some have pointed to that discord as a reason for the catalog’s long absence.
The 2021 agreement and catalog#
The earlier disputes had largely been between Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah’s uncle and the owner of Blackground Records, and the late singer’s estate, controlled by her mother Diane Haughton. The May 2021 contract did not involve Diane. It pitted Barry against his son Jomo, Aaliyah’s cousin.
Under the written agreement, Barry and Jomo Hankerson granted Jomo a 20% stake in Blackground. The catalog includes most of Aaliyah’s music, including the albums One in a Million and Aaliyah, as well as early masters for several artists:
- Timbaland & Magoo
- Tank
- Toni Braxton
- JoJo
The contract coincided with Barry agreeing to a distribution deal with EMPIRE, a Bay Area-based music company, after years of stops and starts. EMPIRE released the Blackground catalog as planned between August and October 2021, making it available on streaming services for the first time and reissuing physical formats after years out of print.
First lawsuit and 2022 settlement#
The releases performed well commercially, with top 10 entries on multiple charts. Behind the scenes, Jomo sued Barry in October 2021, claiming his father had not delivered the promised 20% of profits.
Barry responded by claiming Jomo coerced him into signing over the 20% share. Barry said Jomo stole Aaliyah’s master recordings while Barry was recovering from a stroke in early 2021 and threatened to leak the masters online, which would have ruined the pending EMPIRE deal, unless he received a stake. Barry said he signed under “great duress” while in fragile health and sought to void the contract.
The lawsuit was resolved in late 2022 with a settlement. Barry agreed to pay Jomo a $1.3 million lump sum, and Jomo’s ownership stake in the Blackground catalog was reduced from 20% to 12%. The peace did not hold.
New claims in 2026#
Blackground continued operating. The label kept the catalog commercially available and released two posthumous Aaliyah tracks: “Poison,” a 2021 collaboration with The Weeknd, and “Gone” featuring Tank, which topped the Adult R&B Airplay chart in 2025. Blackground also named a new president in October 2021, planned a posthumous album release, and sold its composition rights to Legacy Publishing earlier this year, among other moves.
At the beginning of 2026, Jomo sued Barry again for failing to pay his share of Blackground royalties. He claimed Barry worked to “systematically cheat” him out of his 12% through fraudulent “schemes and machinations.” Jomo asked a judge to hold Barry accountable to the 2022 settlement and said Barry refused to share any portion of $15 million in profits from two unspecified transactions.
Barry again sought to void his son’s ownership stake. In a June 2026 countersuit, he claimed Jomo strong-armed him into signing the 2022 settlement by threatening to post Aaliyah’s unreleased music online, similar to the alleged coercion behind the 2021 agreement.
Barry’s latest filings also alleged Jomo engaged in widespread financial misconduct when he worked for Blackground years earlier. Barry went further, saying his son was partially to blame for the 2001 plane crash that killed Aaliyah at age 22. The countersuit stated:
“[Jomo] failed in his responsibility to accompany and coordinate the travel of his late cousin, Aaliyah, to a music video shoot in the Bahamas. Tragically, it is well known that she passed away as a result of a plane crash that took place during that trip, travel that was not coordinated by [Jomo] and travel that may have been avoided had [Jomo] followed through on his compensated task of travel coordination.”
Both Jomo’s lawsuit and Barry’s counterclaims remain pending in Georgia court. Lawyers for both sides did not respond to requests for comment.
Aaliyah estate’s separate position#
Over the years, Aaliyah’s official estate, known as Aaliyah LLC, has publicly distanced itself from Blackground’s operations. Run by Diane, Aaliyah’s mother and Barry’s sister, the estate does not own any shares in the music catalog. For a decade, Barry’s stated reason for the catalog not being available was personal: his understanding that Diane, from whom he has been largely estranged in the 25 years since Aaliyah’s death, did not want the music out, and Barry was unwilling to go against his sister’s purported wishes. The Aaliyah estate has denied this.
Diane has not been involved in the financial feud between Jomo and Barry. She has, however, been in a separate, drawn-out legal skirmish with her brother.
