Aaliyah Biopic Moving Forward with Alexandra Shipp

Late R&B songstress Aaliyah who tragically perished in a plane crash at the age of twenty-two back in 2001 is experiencing a soaring popularity that will no doubt help feed a new crop of fans most of whom were too young to appreciate the artist that is fondly remembered as “Baby Girl”.

Drake is admittedly a die-hard fan and keeps proving his loyalty through his continuous experiment with some of the beats that made Aaliyah a household name. So it’s only natural that an ambitious biopic would follow, and by the looks of things even the late singer’s family can’t stop this impending project from happening.

Just weeks after Zendaya Coleman dropped out after being cast as the lead, it was announced that 23-year-old Alexandra Shipp, best known for her role as KT Rush on the Nickelodeon teenage soap opera House of Anubis will take her place and portray the late “Princess of R&B”.

It is no secret that casting a role that carries a level of notoriety can be an exhaustingly complicated process, but then you add logistical interference from family members, and things get graphically awkward. Aaliyah’s loved ones have made it vocally clear through the years that they are not supportive of any outlets that attempt to exploit the name of the deceased singer. Executive producers Debra Martin Chase and talk show maven, Wendy Williams have an agenda – and that is to bring Aaliyah back to life in a way that will hopefully honor her and quench the streaming noise from naysayers.

The film is scheduled to make its debut on Lifetime this fall. It’s difficult to predict how successful this latest venture will be, but for those of us who remember the magical time when Aaliyah declared that “Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number”, it will most likely be an exercise in patience and acceptance to behold a prototype posing as the real thing. Why? She is simply irreplaceable. And even if Shipp manages to nail the swift moves, effortlessly sensual aura, and killer abs, it may only serve as a painful reminder of what we’ve lost and what might have been.