Top Albums of The Decade #4
Aaliyah – Aaliyah (2001)
While her mid-90′s pretty-girl R&B compatriots like Brandy and Monica fizzled out by the beginning of the decade, Aaliyah went from strength to strength until her untimely demise in 2001 at the age of 22. A large part of her success came from her symbiotic relationship with Timbaland and Missy Elliott. Symbiotic, because Aaliyah wouldn’t have had the impact she had on music without Timbaland’s then futuristic percussive stutters and self-sampling studio trickery, and Timbaland wouldn’t have had the platform to showcase his work without Aaliyah’s wide-reaching commercial appeal.
Aaliyah is a thoroughly enjoyable pop and dance record. She may not hit the annoyingly high registers of Beyonce or jerk her ass so hard it makes your TV fall off the table but she makes up for it by infusing a great deal of intimacy and closeness into her vocals. Aaliyah always sounds like she’s singing for herself first, then for you. And only you. Aaliyah, you’re sorely missed.
One Response to “Top Albums of The Decade #4”
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Michelle Says:
February 8th, 2010 at 12:44 amI never listened to this album, but We Need A Resolution alone is worth multitudes. I was enraged when Pitchfork’s “top 500 songs of the 2000s” list only put it at 111.