Aaliyah’s family fight over music royalties has heated up, with the late singer’s cousin—who was blamed for her death by her uncle—seeking a $20 million payout in their ongoing litigation. This isn’t just another celebrity lawsuit. This is family turning on family 25 years after a tragedy that still defines R&B history.
Jomo is Barry’s son and Aaliyah’s cousin; Barry is Aaliyah’s uncle and longtime manager. The two co-owned Blackground Records together, but now they’re in court swinging at each other over money, and Barry just lobbed the nuclear option: he’s claiming Jomo’s negligence directly led to Aaliyah’s death. Not metaphorically. He’s saying if his son had done his job right, the Princess of R&B would still be alive.
Here’s the setup: Barry claims Aaliyah’s cousin was paid to coordinate travel for her music video shoot in the Bahamas, and “failed in his responsibility” to handle travel plans, and she instead took a private jet that crashed and killed everyone onboard. Barry says the fatal crash “may have been avoided had [Jomo] followed through on his compensated task of travel coordination.” Aaliyah died on August 25, 2001, at age 22, in a plane crash—joining eight others who lost their lives. The accusation is devastating, the kind of blame that doesn’t just end lawsuits; it ends families.
But there’s a reason Barry’s dropping this bomb now: Jomo claims his dad breached a settlement over music rights—specifically, recording masters and music publishing copyrights for Aaliyah, Toni Braxton, DMX, and Timbaland—and Jomo is seeking over $1.2 million in damages. Jomo alleges that Barry used the record label to hide money and manufacture expenses that have nothing to do with the music assets, all for the purpose of pressuring [him] into accepting less than what he is owed. This is a money fight. Barry countered with a death accusation. That’s how ugly this has gotten.
The counterattack got darker. Barry also claimed his son once threatened to release unreleased Aaliyah music if his financial demands were not met. Think about that: using vault recordings of a murdered cousin as leverage in a family financial dispute. That’s not business anymore. That’s psychological warfare.
Jomo has denied all claims of wrongdoing. The case is ongoing. Both sides are denying everything, but the damage is already done. You can’t un-say that someone’s negligence killed your niece—or un-hear it as family.
The bigger picture here is the vault. Aaliyah’s catalog has been locked up in Blackground Records limbo for decades. Her music is fragmented across services. There’s posthumous material fans have never heard. And her own family is fighting over who controls what and who gets paid. This isn’t just about $1.2 million or $20 million. This is about legacy, about who gets to profit from a global icon’s death, and who gets blamed for it.
The 16BARS take: When money gets between family and history gets weaponized as a lawsuit tactic, everybody loses—but the culture loses most. 25 years after Aaliyah’s death, her family should be protecting her memory, not destroying each other over checks and master tapes.
