Ginuwine has shed some light on his falling out with Aaliyah, claiming redemption came in an unorthodox fashion, years following her passing.
via: Complex
During his visit to Drink Champs, the R&B star explained there was no real beef with the later singer as many had thought. The reason behind their friction was a misunderstanding after he decided to leave her uncle Barry Hankerson’s Blackground Records, which managed him.
“We were all a family — Missy, Timbaland, her [Aaliyah], myself, Magoo, Playa, Tweet — all of us,” Ginuwine said about his former label mates.
“Her and I weren’t seeing eye-to-eye. I think it had to do a lot more with her loyalty to her uncle, Barry Hankerson — he was the record head, and the company was my manager — I just decided to leave because whatever reason. Of course, her loyalty was to her family. So, that’s where that stemmed from.”
He continued, “We ain’t have no beef or nothing like that — I ain’t beefing with no girl. It was one of those things where our time had separated.”
The 52-year-old added that he wanted to make amends and explain why he left in the first place, but he “never got the chance” and felt that Aaliyah was being told, “whatever narrative it was with me.”
However, thanks to Missy Elliott, Ginuwine was able to get closure through a dream the “Work It” rapper had about Aaliyah, saying, “Missy came, and she told me one time she had a dream, and Aaliyah said: ‘Don’t worry about it.’ She forgive me. And, I cried.”
Ginuwine also reflected on Aaliyah’s trajectory and where he felt she would’ve gone if she were still alive. According to the “Pony” singer, Aaliyah would’ve been on the level that Beyoncé is on now.
“I would want her to be on the level where B is — Beyoncé, yeah — but you just never know,” he said. “I know that she was headed in that direction. She was doing the movies. Of course, she was doing music. She was dancing and all that. So, ya know, we just will never know, and that’s the bad thing about it.”
