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It’s hard to believe that it’s been 15 years since the untimely death of the R&B Princess Aaliyah.  EarHustle411 and the rest of the world can remember that fateful day the new broke that the young starlet along with 8 members of her personal team perished in a plane crash after wrapping up the video for Aaliyah’s song “Rock The Boat” 15 years ago on August 25, 2001.

The music world lost one of the brightest, most promising and influential singers to grace the entertainment industry since the debut of Whitney Houston.  Aaliyah’s journey to stardom didn’t happen without struggles or disappointments.  We can remember that angelic face making her way to the Star Search stage at age 10, when most little ladies her age were playing with dolls.  Aaliyah was singing her heart out trying to achieve her dreams of being a singer like her mommy.  Although she didn’t win that performance on Star Search, after she dusted herself off and tried again the world would see a different Aaliyah and come to love what a second chance at stardom would bring.

Aaliyah worked hard and revamped her image and what emerged was this cute, tom boyish girl who had a mystery about herself with major production from Chicago’s own R. Kelly.  The album “Age Ain’t Nuthin’ But A Number” yielded tracks and lyrics that most would say no young lady should utter.  There’s no denying that the debut album was a smash hit and leading the way to the charts was the song “Back and Forth”. The sound of Aaliyah’s smooth voice and R. Kelly’s pumped up grooves has been said was a sound that helped define some of the 90s music.

After the release of  “Age” Aaliyah went through a tough time with much criticism due to the reports of her marriage to her then mentor, producer R.. Kelly in 1994.  She would ultimate severed ties with Kelly never to work with or speak the name of her first producer.  As sad as it is, who knows what would’ve come from those two, it shows the two worked well together.  However, amid the rumors, Aaliyah and her team sought new producers and found a phenomenal connection with Missy Elliott and Timbaland.  The collaboration resulted in the release of her 2nd album “One In A Million”.   This was yet another project that would solidify Aaliyah’s place as the R& B Princess.

The album yielded hit like 4 Page Letter, If Your Girl Only Knew, Hot Like Fire and the heartfelt ballad The One I Gave My Heart To.  Missy Elliott and Timbaland put their musically different but creative stamp on this project as it was a defining moment in all of their lives.  Aaliyah was able to move on from the troubles of her past, she has a new and improved sound while Elliott and Timbaland had finally “made it” and they credit their collaboration with Aaliyah as one of the best connections to date that has changed their careers.

Aaliyah whose name is arabic means “most exalted one, the highest, the best” was certainly living up to the meaning of her name as everything she did was made of perfection.  She had made an impact in the industry and was now making head way with musical contributions on soundtracks like Anastasia with “Journey To The Past” and appearing in movies.  Her debut film of “Romeo Must Die” featuring veteran actor Jet Li and rapper DMX portraying “Trish O’Day” skyrocketed Aaliyah’s career to another dimension not to mention the soundtrack to the movie was awesome.  Tracks like “Try Again” and “Back In One Piece” fit in the film perfectly.

Prior to Aaliyah’s death she had been cast in the lead role on the movie “Queen of the Damned” as ‘Queen Akasha’.  She would never see the end results of her hard word in the film because August 27th 2001 would be the day that no one would have ever imagined losing Aaliyah so suddenly at age 22.  Here we are 15 years later, Aaliyah’s passing still looms over those who loved her as if it were yesterday.  She’s received numerous awards posthumously and her music is still relevant in mainstream radio.  The last and final album “Aaliyah” is said to be her best works to date, with tracks like Rock The Boat, I Refuse, Never No More, We Need A Resolution and More Than A Woman, are all great works.

Aaliyah made the personal commitment to another image change with her last project.  No longer did she wear her dark glasses or that infamous swooped hair over her left eye, she opted for more sexy clothes and her face was fully exposed.  One could say that this change was a reflection of her relationship with Roc-A-Fella’s Dame Dash but we all know that as a woman grows up so does her character.

 

The music industry will never get to know what impacts Aaliyah would have made but it’s for certain the legacy she did leave opened the door to opportunities for other female artists to excel and had Aaliyah not been met with her untimely death the music game as is stands currently would be very different.

Continue to REST IN POWER Babygirl!!

AALIYAH DANA HAUGHTON

January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001

Source: YouTube (Videos), Photo Virgin, Getty Image