Today, Aug. 25, is the anniversary of the death of R&B singer Aaliyah. Twitter was alight with fans remembrances and well-wishes, and I think I should do the same.
I have to admit that I came to Aaliyah’s music very late; even though I heard about her when she made “Journey to the Past” for the Anastasia soundtrack, around the time she died was when I started getting into her music. If my memory serves me correctly, it was because she died that I decided I should dive in and see what Aaliyah’s music was like. I quickly became a fan.
What I liked about her music was how futuristic it sounded. The futurism didn’t stop with the music though; it continued with the look of the music video, her style, the moves, everything. It was a complete package.
The word “package” is probably a bit of a dirty word to some. But the package of Aaliyah is also why I like her; I like what is now called the vintage Timbaland now. (I actually wish Timbaland would go back to using his old sound.) I like her dance moves. I like the role style played in her career. I like the dark, creepy futurist take she had on things. I like her film career (who can dislike Romeo Must Die?) I like what Aaliyah was giving us and even though people have tried to gives us Aaliyah 2.0 (like Ciara, who I actually did like when she first came out), it’s clear that no one can capture whatever magic Aaliyah had.
I’ll end this post with some of my favorite Aaliyah songs. Which ones are yours? Give your opinions in the comments section below!
Screencap of Aaliyah in the music video for “We Need a Resolution”