Video Jam: Missing Aaliyah
August 28th, 2009 | 4:20 pm est |
When Aaliyah’s plane crashed into a Bahamanian swamp eight years ago this Tuesday, the world of music lost one of its biggest hit makers and most promising artists. It also lost, in the words of DMX (no softy) “an angel on earth.” With the songwriting and production skills of first R. Kelly, then the dynamic duo of Timbaland and Missy Elliott backing her, there was no doubt that she would succeed. Still, without her combination of smooth sweetness, unerring sense of style and a solid core of toughness that appealed to the hip hop faithful, she may have been just another R&B singer. Instead, she racked up a long string of hits that helped to re-define modern R&B and still stand up today as nothing short of amazing. Check this list: “Back & Forth”, “At Your Best (You Are Love)”, “If Your Girl Only Knew,” “Are You That Somebody?” “Try Again,” “One in a Million,” “Miss You,” I Care For You,” and tell me who did it better between 1994 and 2001.
While the best way to hear her music is in a packed club (for the jamz) or late at night over headphones (for the honey-sweet ballads), checking out some videos comes in a close second.
Rest in Peace, baby girl.
Awesome tribute, Tim. You are to be commended.
Aaliyah was kind of underrated by the purists, but that self-titled album was really great.
~Austin
‘If your girl only knew’ is still such a cool song with an amazing beat
Nice article, but…
“It’s” is a contraction and only means “it is” or “it has”.
The possessive form of “it” is “its”.
The one thing i remember about Aaliyah from her interviews was she liked Nine Inch Nails. It would have been interesting to hear her on a Trent Reznor produced track.
Thanks for sharing `i love this girl very much!
Cool site, love the info.
Don’t forget 4 Page Letter! I miss this girl everytime I open iTunes and see that album. R. I. P.