Aaliyah’s estate celebrated the reissue of Baby Girl’s Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number earlier this week, and hoped that fans followed “instructions” while running back the late singer’s 1994 debut album.
“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 estate wrote on X and Instagram on Monday (May 18).
The message was accompanied by a fan’s TikTok video, which showed them listening to the vinyl and an official sticker covering R. Kelly’s face on the album’s cover art. The user, who goes by @Bizzydesigner, also used their thumb to cover R. Kelly’s face on the back cover.
Billboard has Reached out to reps for Aaliyah and R. Kelly for comment.
Instead of a sticker or a thumb, fans called for Aaliyah’s estate to use AI or Photoshop to remove R. Kelly from the cover art. “It’s literally 2026.. You can literally use AI now to crop him out to delete him out of existence.. a sticker.. really you must think it’s 1993 or something,” one fan wrote on IG.
Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard 200 and produced a pair of Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits with “Back & Forth” and “(At Your Best) You Are Love.”
Aaliyah was introduced to R. Kelly as a teenager through her uncle Barry Hankerson. Kelly served as the primary producer and songwriter on Baby Girl’s Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number debut, which arrived in May 1994, while Aaliyah was just 15.
Later that year, Aaliyah and R. Kelly got married. VIBE released an alleged copy of their marriage certificate in 1995, which stated Kelly was 27 at the time, while Aaliyah was listed as 18 when she was really 15. Their union was reportedly annulled by Aaliyah’s parents shortly after.
Speculation and rumors of sexual abuse continued to pop up for Kelly in the decades after allegedly marrying Aaliyah. He was acquitted on child pornography charges in 2008. However, in 2022, R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
