Aaliyah
After Hankerson signed a distribution deal with Jive Records, he signed Aaliyah to his label named Blackground Records when Aaliyah was 12 years old. She released her debut album Age Ain't Nothing but a Number in 1994. Rumors circulated that she and her mentor R. Kelly were not only romantically involved, but had also married. Aaliyah admitted to a friendship with R. Kelly, which had developed while recording Age Ain't Nothing but a Number. She said they would go out together and watch a movie or eat somewhere when they went on breaks from recording the album and said they were "rather close". She dismissed the rumors about her relationship with him as people taking it "the wrong way."