In Memory of the Queen of Urban Pop

Aaliyah was an actress and pop singer on the verge of superstardom when she was killed in a 2001 plane crash. She sang professionally as a child and released her first album, Age Ain't Nothin' But A Number (1994), when she was 14. She released the album One in a Million in 1996, and by the end of the decade she was working in the movies as an actress and composer. She co-starred with Jet Li in Romeo Must Die (2000), and her song from the movie, "Try Again," was a hit single. At the time of her death she had released three albums and had agreed to appear in two more films: Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned (2001) and the sequel to the 1999 Keanu Reeves film The Matrix.

Aaliyah said her name means "highest, most exalted one" in Swahili... She was the niece of singer Gladys Knight, who married Aaliyah's uncle Barry Hankerson... Aaliyah was discovered by hip-hop producer R. Kelly, who worked on Age Ain't Nothin' But A Number. The two were allegedly married in secret for a brief time in 1994, even though Aaliyah was underaged; Vibe magazine later published a marriage certificate for the two, but the parties involved have consistently refused to comment on whether the marriage took place... Aaliyah was one of nine people who died when their twin-engine Cessna crashed on takeoff from Marsh Harbour on Abaco Island in the Bahamas; the group was returning to the U.S. after filming the music video for Rock the Boat.

Aaliyah has been credited for helping redefine R&B and hip hop in the 1990s, "leaving an indelible imprint on the music industry as a whole”. Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote Aaliyah ranks among the "elite" artists of the R&B genre, as she "played a major role in popularizing the stuttering, futuristic production style that consumed hip-hop and urban soul in the late '90s”. Described as one of "R&B's most important artists" during the 1990s, her second studio album, One in a Million, became one of the most influential R&B albums of the decade.According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, Aaliyah provided a "missing link between hip-hop and electronica”. Having sold 8.1 million albums in the United States and over 24 million records worldwide, Aaliyah has been named the "Queen of Urban Pop" and "proved she was a muse in her own right”.

Here are some of my favorite songs by her:

Try Again
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We Need a Resolution


Rock da Boat


Are You That Somebody


One In A Million


4 Page Letter


If Your Girl Only Knew


I Care 4 U


Back In One Piece


One In A Million Remix


More Than A Woman


Beyonce interviews Aaliyah in 2001 VMA's


My most favorite song - The One I Gave My Heart To


How Could The One I Gave My Heart To, Break My Heart So Bad?
How Could The One Who Made Me Happy, Make Me Feel So Sad?
Wont Somebody Tell Me? So I Can Understand.
If You Love Me, How Could You Hurt Me Like That?
How Could The One I Gave My World To, Throw My World Away?
How Could The One Who Said I Love You, Say The Things You Say?
How Could The One I Was So True Too, Just Tell Me Lies?
How Could The One I Gave My Heart To, Break This Heart Of Mine?
Tell Me........
How Could You Be So Cold To Me? When I Gave You Everything.
All My Love, All I Had Inside.
How Could you Just Walk Out The Door?
How Could You Not Love Me Anymore?
I Thought We Had Forever.
I Cant Understand.
How Could The One I Shared My Dreams With, Take My Dreams From me?
How Could The Love That Brought Such Pleasure, Bring Such Misery?
Wont Somebody Tell Me? Somebody Tell Me Please.
If You Love Me, How Could You Do That To Me?
Tell Me........
How Could you Just Walk Out The Door?
How Could You Not Love Me Anymore?
I Thought We Had Forever.
I Cant Understand.
*How Could The One I Gave My Heart To, Break My Heart So Bad?
How Could The One Who Made Me Happy, Make Me Feel So Sad?
Wont Somebody Tell Me? So I Can Understand.
If You Love Me, How Could You Hurt Me Like That?*
How Could The One I Gave My World To, Throw My World Away?
How Could The One Who Said I Love You, Say The Things You Say?
How Could The One I Was So True Too Just Tell Me Lies?
*How Could The One I Gave My Heart To.....
How Could The One I Gave My Heart To....
How Could The One I Gave My Heart To Break This Heart of Mine?
Tell Me........