The Tragedy of Aaliyah: Child Protection

I contemplated for at least a month whether or not I was going to write a short article about Aaliyah and in what direction the writing would take. You see, I’m a huge Aaliyah fan and I truly believe she had the potential to be a Mega Star. Her untimely death would not allow this to come to fruition but her contribution is still appreciated almost 16 years later. The purpose of this short article is to discuss how important it is to protect young artist/musicians when signing with a Record Label becomes a reality to them. The Music Industry can be very shady and I know this from associates I have in the industry. It’s vital to have a blanket shielding young artist from vultures and other predators. Our youth are taken advantage of on so many levels and the true adults in the situation must be reliable, responsible, attentive and focused not only on the music, but the total well-being of the artist. Outside of Aaliyah’s death which is of course the true tragedy in this equation, her entry into the music business had some shaky moments to say the least. I often wonder who was ultimately responsible for the abuse she endured.

In the Black Community we shy away from talking about the sexual misconduct many of our children face. Black boys and girls are taken advantage of more than we will ever know or care to admit. The offenders are often family members, friends of the family, lovers of family members and “Business Associ