While Lifetime's Aaliyah: Princess Of R&B failed to get the rights to Aaliyah's music for the biopic, Alexandra Shipp, the lead actress who is set to play the late singer, said that there was a "silver lining" to having to cover the songs herself.

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"I was actually not like happy about it, but I saw the silver lining in it that we didn't want to like remake her music videos. We didn't wanna make it about her music necessarily. We wanted to make it about her."

Shipp also spoke on the portion of the movie that addresses Aaliyah's illegal and quick marriage to Genius singer R. Kelly. In the biopic Aaliyah fought for her relationship with R. Kelly and attempted to convince her parents he was her first love. But in reality Aaliyah never confirmed whether they were even a couple.

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Shipp spoke on the disconnect and said, "I think it's understandable that she didn't want to talk about it. No woman wants to talk about an ex. I don't blame her. I know that it was a controversial thing in the beginning and she wanted people to focus on her career and not her personal life. I respect that."

The film has had lots of attention considering Aaliyah's family tried to put a stop to the film and various aspects of Aaliyah's life that it might show.

Shipp opened up about her reluctancies in taking on the role as the Rock The Boat singer.

"It was everyone's concern. What is gonna happen with the family? All signs pointed to its a great script, it's a wonderful project. We're making a movie celebrating this woman's life. Not trying to ruffle any feathers. We get to really see pieces of Aaliyah that we didn't get to see in the beginning."

Take a look here.

Aaliyah: Princess Of R&B airs Saturday at 8/7c on Lifetime.

Tags
Aaliyah Movie, Alexandra Shipp