Aaliyah: 9 Years Later

9 years ago today, July 17th, R&B singer Aaliyah released her third studio album, self-titled "Aaliyah". The album debuted at #2 on The Billboard Charts and #1 on R&B selling nearly 200,000 copies in its opening week. In honor of Aaliyah, we've decided to do a review of the classic album that set the bar for all R&B stars who wanted to be viewed as mature artists at the time.

The album opens with the downtempo electro-pop vocally-smooth track "We Need A Resolution" with Timbaland. In the song Aaliyah and her boyfriend are not coming to an agreement and are having the regular complications of every-day couples. The song was released in spring of 2001, and stood out from every other R&B track at the time. Indeed, the sound of this song was almost completely unheard of at the time and manage to crossover into mainstream. the Urban-flavored midtempo, "Loose Rap" with Static Major. "I know you can do better, do better than that." The song talks about a relationship in which the man is jealous of her, and thinks that she's easy to get. The album then transcends into the sexually-charged, Marvin-Gaye influenced "Rock The Boat", and the electropop "More Than A Woman". Continuing showing her maturity and growth Aaliyah switches to the emotional midtempo ballad "Never No More". The song contains a haunting message of domestic violence and the effects it has on the victim of mistreatment. Crossing further into uncharted territory Aaliyah switches to the falsetto-standout of the album "I Care 4 U". Next, she switches to "Extra Smooth", and then to the latin-flavored "Read Between The Lines". With this song and "U Got Nerve" Aaliyah shows her sassy, strong side. She questions her male companion: "Who do u think you are now?" Aaliyah then switches into the heart-breaking, emotionally confused, "I Refuse", another standout. In the song Aaliyah says "I felt like I would die If I could break down and cry. I refuse to let you walk back through that door, I refuse to let you hurt me anymore." Not only does the song showcase Aaliyah's versatility (vocally), but it also shows us just how strong of a woman she has grown into. The song builds up and gets more emotional as it goes on. The song is like a movie that gets closer and closer to the climax. Aaliyah then sings the light-hearted ballad "Its Whatever", the electro-fused "I Can Be", before closing with the heavy metal R&B flavored "What If".

Overall, Aaliyah, was so far ahead of its time. The album is an R&B classic, and is still very much relevant to this day.
Checkout OUR favorite tracks below: