Aaliyah’s Estate Seemingly Backs Move To Cover R. Kelly’s Face On “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number” Vinyl Reissue

Aaliyah’s Estate Seemingly Backs Move To Cover R. Kelly’s Face On “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number” Vinyl Reissue

#Aaliyah’s estate is drawing attention amid the vinyl reissue of Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.

Fans have pointed out that the front of the vinyl includes a sticker placed over #RKelly’s image, fully covering his face. While it’s unclear whether the placement was intentional, the move has seemingly been supported by Aaliyah’s estate, which shared a compilation video on Instagram featuring fans displaying the vinyl with Kelly’s image obscured. The post also included footage from a TikToker who used their fingers to cover Kelly’s image on the back of the vinyl—a gesture many have interpreted as the estate distancing itself from Kelly and his controversies.

Aaliyah’s estate captioned the video, “We hope that y’all listened to instructions carefully While bumpin’ “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number” the just released reissue on your record players this week…Aaliyah’s got a 90’s swing So be careful and share your copy with us please Yeah, hmm… – Team Aaliyah.”

The post has reignited conversation around the late singer’s early career and her relationship with the now-incarcerated R&B singer, who was heavily involved in the production of the 1994 album. While some fans believe the estate should have opted for an entirely new cover that excludes Kelly altogether, others argue that his history does not justify removing him from the original artwork.