Aaliyah: Truly One In A Million

It has been over a decade since we lost Hip Hop’s very own “Princess Diana” or publicly known as Aaliyah Dana Haughton. Aaliyah left an everlasting mark on today’s culture with her many talents (singing, dancing, modeling, and acting are just a few) and pure beauty which took the world by storm and gave many women something new to look up to. At the age of 10, she appeared on the television show Star Search and performed in concert alongside Gladys Knight. She showed people that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that its not all about the “Brick House Frame”  and that big things come in small packages as well.

Everyone can pretty much say that in sometime in their life they’ve heard an Aaliyah song and most of those people will have at least one of her songs on their audio player that they covet; “One In A Million” “Back And Forth” “More Than A Woman” and the list goes on. Aaliyah started her musical career with Jive Records and Blackground Records where she released her debut album Age Ain’t Nothin But a Number which sold over 3 million copies in the United States and was certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. A short while later after facing allegations from an illegal marriage with R. Kelly, Aaliyah decided to end her contract with Jive and signed with Atlantic Records.

Soon after leaving Jive Records, Aaliyah joined forces with Timbaland and Missy Elliot at Atlantic Records where she dropped her second album One In a Million which sold over 8 million copies worldwide. Aaliyah then appeared in her first major film, Romeo Must Die and contributed to the film’s original soundtrack, which spawned the single “Try Again“. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 solely on airplay, making Aaliyah the first artist in Billboard history to achieve this. “Try Again” earned Aaliyah a Grammy Award Nomination for Best Female R&B Vocalist.

Aaliyah just had a voice that captured the masses with a “swag” that was ahead of her time. Aaliyah truly played the role of what some people would call the “Hood Princess” because of what she did to impower women in the New Age by setting the bar so high at a young age. Aaliyah in fact opened the doors for many major young female artists today such as Beyonce, Ciara, and Rihanna. To be proclaimed the “Princess of R&B” or “Queen of The Urban Pop” at the age of 22 is huge acomplishment for any female artist even to this day. Buy Hip Hop Beats

Check out Aaliyah’s music video for “Try Again” by clicking the video below.