Aaliyah Discussion

[Caviar]

"Loose Rap" >>>>>>>>> divas careers

[wavey.]

The smoothness of "Rock The Boat">>

[newpower]

I Refuse

[Queen of Insomnia.]

I Care 4 U >>>>>>>
ALWAYS.

[B-Boy]

I'll tell you this though, the self-titled album was ahead of its time. It felt like it in 2001. Aaliyah was able to pull off the futuristic sound without Timbaland evident on "Loose Rap" and "Rock The Boat". Love the harmonies on "Extra Smooth" and "Read Between The Lines".

[Hefty Hanna]

Is it crazy to think that some of the songs still sound ahead of its time? Like I'm not sure their time has even come yet. Some of the songs honestly still don't feel dated at all to me...as if I'm waiting for radio to pick up 'We Need A Resolution' 20 years from now and start a new trend. That's when you know that you have made a bonafied classic album.

[wavey.]

Aug 25, 2016 21:25:21 GMT -5 Hefty Hanna said:

Is it crazy to think that some of the songs still sound ahead of its time? Like I'm not sure their time has even come yet. Some of the songs honestly still don't feel dated at all to me...as if I'm waiting for radio to pick up 'We Need A Resolution' 20 years from now and start a new trend. That's when you know that you have made a bonafied classic album.

Even MTAW had a sound that would soar on radio, I think that's the R&B that would get mainstream love easily.

[Linnethia Monique]

This video is such a bittersweet moment. I shed tears every time I watch it because it oozes the essences of Aaliyah and is the last thing we ever got from her. This song right here is timeless. It could've been released in the early 90s, late 90s, early 2000s, and even now and be a hit record because nobody else was creating such sensual, innuendo filled music. I regularly watch the Access Granted because her smile and presence was everything that I want from an artist. So personable, inviting, and knowing of her team and how appreciative she was for every individual. The final scene with her rising in the pool into the light is so ethereal. She had the "IT" factor and even though some people try to downplay her influence, many of the most prestige publications always list her as an influence and being drawn from her cloth when they review new artists and their sound or look. 15 years later and you have people like Beyonce still cherishing moments they had with her as moments that others wish they could have. No ill word was ever spoke of her because she possessed a true heart. Damn I miss Aaliyah and what she brought to the soundscape of my upbringing. She made an Isley Brother's classic attuned to her as if she was the first person to sing (At Your Best) You Are Love. She is still everything.

[Deleted]

I always associate Aaliyah with my birthday. Bittersweet is an understatement for me. No matter how many years pass I cannot approach my birthday without flashing back at least once to the night before my 20th. My friend, roommate and I were getting ready to go out when my friend got a call from some guy she knew and he said, 'you won't believe it, Aaliyah died.' She refused to believe him b/c he was always playing around with ish like that, but he insisted that it was true. After she hung up the phone my roommate decided to turn on the radio and we caught the middle of We Need a Resolution. Oh, that's a creepy coincidence. But whatever, her album just came out and it's surely part of a weekend mix, so we shrug it off. But then the next song is Rock the Boat...umm...well that's her most recent single so maybe...and then they play One In a Million and it's not the time of night at all for this station to be playing a five year old ballad. We're all crestfallen, but it's still a punch in the gut when the dj himself finally breaks in and says what we already know.

We continue getting ready b/c what else can you do, but we're all dazed. My friend actually starts looking like Aaliyah to me. (She dismissed me as losing it and she was probably right, but she really does favor Aaliyah a little bit.) We go out and there's sound everywhere; it's a de facto block party and the crowd is as thick as expected. But everything seems muted and sort of slow motion to me, like there is this unspoken effort amongst the crowd to make the most of the night and yet we're all failing. Some local who has no business being on campus but is probably there as somebody's plug gives me two bucks and insists on pinning the money to my chest himself. And all I could think was, Aaliyah is gone. I'm walking around with b'day money pinned to my chest and the woman whose life size poster I have hanging over my bed is gone. Everything felt surreal. I still have that poster, I think. It made it through two or three moves and then ended up in our storage room when I moved back home after graduation. Goodness knows nothing that goes in that storage room ever comes out, so it's still in there, somewhere. Kind of want to see if I can find it for old time's sake.

There are still days when it doesn't even feel like she's left. Unfortunately my birthday is never one of those days.

[Linnethia Monique]

This woman shaped my love for Timbaland and Missy which gave way to my initial appreciation of the art of music in general. I remember hearing If Your Girl Only Knew and One in a Million for the first time and it brought me back to Back and Forth and it hit me with the evolution of her sound. I was still in Elementary school but I was obsessed! My older brother borrowed the One in a Million CD from his best friend Jessie and I STOLE that bish within a week. Aaliyah was one of my mom's favorites and whenever 4 Page Letter comes on I can hear her shouting from the kitchen, "SHE SAID TURN HER UP DAMMIT!" until one day we blew out the speakers of our RCA CD/Tape combo stereo that we used for all of our mixtape cassettes. My brother and I were in Houston, like every Summer, and we used to just fill tapes full of music from 97.9 KBXX THE BOXX! and we stumbled upon Final Warning with her and Ginuwine being played like a regular single and I wouldn't listen to anything for about a year.

[think pink.]

Before Britney, there was Aaliyah for me. Funny how they're alike in a lot of ways.

[Relaxing Cup]

Aug 27, 2016 1:01:37 GMT -5 think pink. said:

Before Britney, there was Aaliyah for me. Funny how they're alike in a lot of ways.

I can't think of any ways in which Britney Spears and Aaliyah are alike, professionally, personally or musically??? I mean, besides being females starting out in their teens...

[think pink.]

Both weren't considered strong vocalists next to their peers, but had a unique tone that made their songs what they were. Both entertainers, always ahead of the trends musically, both humbly sweet and respected by their peers. Both inspired a generation of new artists.

[Caviar]

Just because she liked Britney doesn't mean they shared a musical identity. Other than them known as performers there is nothing similar about them.

[Deleted]

Maybe I'm misinterpreting but I don't think Insatiable is saying they shared a musical identity. They were two completely different artists, but they seemed to possess a similar quality as stars. It's more a comparison of the perceived regard with which they were/are held in their respective genres (granted, there is plenty of divergence in the paths they took to achieve the regard they both have now). I don't think it's entirely off base.

[think pink.]

Aug 27, 2016 15:01:15 GMT -5 @antigonerising said:

Maybe I'm misinterpreting but I don't think Insatiable is saying that shared a musical identity. They were two completely different artists, but they seemed to possess a similar quality as stars. It's more a comparison of the perceived regard with which they were/are held in their respective genres. I don't think it's entirely off base.

Thank you. Ya'll need to calm down.

[Caviar]

Aug 27, 2016 15:01:15 GMT -5 @antigonerising said:

Maybe I'm misinterpreting but I don't think Insatiable is saying that shared a musical identity. They were two completely different artists, but they seemed to possess a similar quality as stars. It's more a comparison of the perceived regard with which they were/are held in their respective genres. I don't think it's entirely off base.

That doesn't make sense either since Aaliyah is held in VERY high regards within R&B and set off a brand new sound in the 90s. Her influence (and untimely death) left a greater influence on artists that came after her. Britney more or less has fallen off considerably post-Blackout (quality wise) and her influence on artists after her wasn't as great. To be fair Aaliyah does have the benefit of "passing away" so we'll never know where her music career would've gone. But it's also worth nothing Aaliyah was becoming more of an actress towards the end and only released Aaliyah to appease the record company.

Aug 27, 2016 15:06:28 GMT -5 think pink. said:

Aug 27, 2016 15:01:15 GMT -5 @antigonerising said:

Maybe I'm misinterpreting but I don't think Insatiable is saying that shared a musical identity. They were two completely different artists, but they seemed to possess a similar quality as stars. It's more a comparison of the perceived regard with which they were/are held in their respective genres. I don't think it's entirely off base.

Thank you. Ya'll need to calm down.

I don't think anyone was flipping out so no need to tell us to "calm down". We're all here stating our opinions and if you needed another poster to clarify your own post then maybe we wouldn't be having this back and forth disagreement.

[think pink.]

Aug 27, 2016 15:07:37 GMT -5 Caviar said:

Aug 27, 2016 15:01:15 GMT -5 @antigonerising said:

Maybe I'm misinterpreting but I don't think Insatiable is saying that shared a musical identity. They were two completely different artists, but they seemed to possess a similar quality as stars. It's more a comparison of the perceived regard with which they were/are held in their respective genres. I don't think it's entirely off base.

That doesn't make sense either since Aaliyah is held in VERY high regards within R&B and set off a brand new sound in the 90s. Her influence (and untimely death) left a greater influence on artists that came after her. Britney more and less has fallen off considerably post-Blackout (quality wise) and her influence on artists after her wasn't as great. To be fair Aaliyah does have the benefit of "passing away" so we'll never know where her music career would've gone. But it's also worth nothing Aaliyah was becoming more of an actress towards the end and only released Aaliyah to appease the record company.

Uh, Hi.



A million clones soon followed.

Artists from Selena Gomez to Lana Del Rey to Tinashe have all listed Britney as a huge influence. You can't find many artists of today that don't list Britney as an inspiration. You also might want to listen to Britney's new album. It's her best body of work since Blackout.

[Caviar]

You still have artists 20 years later trying to emulate One In A Million. While BOMT certainly influenced teen pop in the early 20s that has mostly waned. No shade to Britney but Aaliyah is certainly on a different level.

I'm done here.

[think pink.]

Aug 27, 2016 15:20:04 GMT -5 Caviar said:

You still have artists 20 years later trying to emulate One In A Million. While BOMT certainly influenced teen pop in the early 20s that has mostly waned. No shade to Britney but Aaliyah is certainly on a different level.

I'm done here.

This makes no sense. Britney is STILL influencing an entire generation of stars, just like Aaliyah is. I mean, I really could go in and list all the reasons and receipts as to why and how Britney's influence & impact has been far more greater than Aaliyah's but out of respect, I won't.

[Relaxing Cup]

Okay, okay, I guess Aaliyah and Britney were alike; they both liked snakes! lmao

_{April 2001}


August 2001

[Caviar]

I didn't even want to go there :kii:

[think pink.]

One was a huge iconic moment in time, the other...

I won't go there. Please don't make me.

[Relaxing Cup]

think pink. you just called us QUEENS and deleted your post, don't think I didn't see that. Rude.

It's okay to have a difference of opinion on this issue, don't insult people though. Maybe trolling Mariah in the JLO thread as you do is tolerated as a mod but attacking people, I think is a bit much.

[think pink.]

Aug 27, 2016 15:36:55 GMT -5 Relaxing Cup said:

think pink. you just called us QUEENS and deleted your post, don't think I didn't see that. Rude.

It's okay to have a difference of opinion on this issue, don't insult people though. Maybe trolling Mariah in the JLO thread as you do is tolerated as a mod but insulting people and calling them QUEENS, I think it a bit much.

Uh...I posted "Queens" under your Aaliyah & Britney snake post to end off the discussion on a good note and ignore your trolling until I saw Loose Rap's post that baited me to edit mine. Would never disrespect anyone like that.

And trolling Mariah? Hardly.

[SHOOTER]

Anyone who denies the influence Aaliyah left behind, at least from a sonic standpoint, that R&B is still trying to catch up to is just as delusional as anyone denying the influence Britney had on her generation of Pop music. Granted, Aaliyah's music was much more progressive but even if you want to argue about the palpable lack of depth in Britney's music and when and where she "peaked", in the span of time she was peaking, she also went Diamond twice and left a permanent imprint in the pop culture zeitgeist that's still being referenced by the new generation of paper-thin voiced pop tarts to proceed her; same as how Aaliyah birthed a bevy of imitators. They weren't the only influential ones by any means but they're both iconic figures of their generation as far as I'm concerned.

[Queen of Insomnia.]

So now Aalyah is compared to Britney? Nah, stop t.

Honestly, it's really hard for me to compare Aaliyah with anyone... She had that unique vibe around her, tomboy, but sexy in her own sophisticated way, Girl w/ a big vocal range who decided to use mostly laid back vocals on her albums, with mannerisms so distunctive that it takes just a moment to recognise that someone tries to emulate her. But for me what makes her so different from her peers and contemporary acts is that she was wise beyond her years, and she knew exactly what she wanted and was not afraid to get it. Going in to acting is just one example of her attitude and confidence. She chose to play Trish a big part for her debut, which was pretty uncommon at the time. Before then she rejected a few roles she started getting from OIAM days, then it was Akasha: the vampire queen. Then it supposed to be Zee in Matrix II & III, but whe know what happened. Three roles, each character different very different from the previous one. It shows Aaliyah was ready to take risks not with her music... At 22! Who else?

[SHOOTER]

...and this is why I don't debate about Aaliyah and just continue to enjoy the incomparable music that she left behind.

[Deleted]

Aug 27, 2016 17:46:22 GMT -5 SHOOTER said:

...and this is why I don't debate about Aaliyah and just continue to enjoy the incomparable music that she left behind.

I'm still confused as to why the brief comparison was deemed so problematic in the first place. But then I just got my life all day yesterday to one's new album so what do I know?

[Zinc.]

Happy 20th Anniversary One In A Million