"Poison" is a song by American singer

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...

featuring Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was released on December 17, 2021, through Blackground Records 2.0, as the lead single from Aaliyah's upcoming posthumous

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' Unstoppable''. The Weeknd wrote the song alongside

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and Aaliyah's frequent collaborator, Static Major. Production was handled by DannyBoyStyles and Nick Lamb with engineer Mike Dean.

Background

In August 2021, it was reported that Aaliyah's recorded work for Blackground (since rebranded as Blackground Records 2.0) would be re-released on physical, digital, and (for the first time ever)

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in a deal between the label and

Empire Distribution EMPIRE Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (marketed as EMPIRE) is an American distribution company and record label founded in by Ghazi Shami with offices in New York City, London, Nashville, and Atlanta. It has released albums in vario ...

, beginning with '' One in a Million'' on August 20, 2021. On August 25, 2021, Aaliyah's uncle and Blackground Records 2.0 label boss, Barry Hankerson, revealed in an interview with Big Tigger for

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that a fourth (and likely final) studio album, titled ''Unstoppable'', would be released in "a matter of weeks". The album will feature

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

, Ne-Yo,

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

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and use previously unreleased vocals from before Aaliyah's passing. Hankerson shared that this will be the end of new music for the late star and added, "I think it's wonderful. It's a very emotional process to do. It's very difficult to hear her sing when she's not here, but we got through it." On "Poison", Aaliyah's vocals had been demoed in 2001, shortly before the singer's untimely death. Hankerson issued a statement, "Thank you to all of her many fans for keeping aliyah'smusic alive. I'm sorry it took so long, but when you lose a family member so unexpectedly, it takes time to deal with that type of grief. I decided to release Aaliyah's music in order to keep her legacy alive."

Controversy

Upon release, the single attracted backlash due to the poor quality of Aaliyah's vocals in comparison to the crisp quality of the Weeknd's vocals. Fans of Aaliyah dismissed the song as "disrespectful". Less than twenty four hours after release, Mike Dean, who mixed and mastered the track, released an updated version on all digital outlets.

Chart performance

One week after the single's release, it debuted at number 33 on the

New Zealand Hot Singles Chart Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded ...

. In the US, "Poison" peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay Chart and spent twelve weeks on that chart. It also debuted on the Billboard R&B Digital Song Sales at number 14 and the Hot R&B Songs chart at number 15.

Critical reception

D-Money for ''Soul Bounce'' wrote, "there's something a bit off about the song. In particular, Aaliyah's vocals, which are poorly mixed and sound filtered through an old computer." Jon Blistein, writing for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', called the single "tender".

Charts

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poison 2021 singles Songs written by the Weeknd Songs written by Belly (rapper) Songs written by Static Major Aaliyah songs The Weeknd songs Songs released posthumously Male–female vocal duets 2021 songs Blackground Records singles