Aaliyah: Virgin Records, New York, 2000 (Rare Photo)

🔁 via @djkazzeo: "Since it's the anniversary of her passing, figured I'd repost this oldie but goodie. #ripaaliyah"

Aaliyah at the Virgin Records Office in New York, 2000. Thank you for sharing! 🙏🏽❤

Aaliyah As Featured Cameo in Timbaland feat. Playa, Magoo & Missy Elliott's: Here We Come

Released: November 1998

Recorded: 1997/1998

Label: Blackground/Atlantic/Virgin

First and foremost I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter! :o) I hope you are all in good spirits. Now I know I have not been posting much, but for those who are wondering I am well and alive! ;) I have a lot of drafts that I have yet to post, so lets get down to business shall we? lol Now awhile ago, I posted a lot of cameo appearances where our beloved Babygirl happened to feature in, so I would like to continue posting the rest of her cameo appearances so that we have a complete archive. 

Now here's a classic joint which takes me wayyy back! Here We Come featuring the likes of Timbaland, Magoo, Missy and backing vocals from R&B group Playa, was the lead single from Timbaland's solo debut album – 'Tim's Bio: Life From Da Bassment'. The music video itself was premiered in mid October 1998, on music channel MTV2 (that channel definitely takes me back!). Now, although the song charted and was released via radio airplay in November 1998, it did not gain any 'physical release' in the US until March 2nd 1999 and October 5th 1999 for Germany (shows how much patience people had back then!).

Personally, as I do with any video/track from the Timbo Fam, since Ginuwine also features as a guest cameo, these guys were so ahead of their time it's unreal. The whole idea of transforming a music video into a moving graphic novel was just original for it's time. If we look back at other music videos during the early 2000's, we have also encountered this with other artists too, such as Mariah Carey and Eminem. If you listen to the track carefully, you can hear the songs concept and interpolation based on the early Spider-Man comic series, showing that playful, childish superhero/heroin side in us all. And as always, our beloved Babygirl is looking extra fly with the highlights in her hair! Love it! :D Anyhoo, peep the videos below to compare and contrast the musicality! The bottom video can only be viewed via youtube, so click on the link and it should direct you. Enjoy everyone! :o)

Aaliyah: Rolling Stones Review By Ernest Hardy, August 2nd, 2001

Aaliyah (Red Album): The Video Collection

A collection of Babygirls singles from her third album Aaliyah. I Care 4 U is also featured as one of her singles from this album. There isn't an actual video for this song so I am just sharing the audio content with you. I have also included the track Messed Up as it is a hidden track on the US version of the album. Anyways...sit back and enjoy some real music! :o)

A A L I Y A H

  

Released: July 17th 2001

Recorded: 1998 – March 2001

Label: Blackground/Virgin Records

Last but not least we have the third and final studio album titled A A L I Y A H. After releasing One In A Million, and also setting up her profile even higher by releasing hit single soundtracks such as Are You That Somebody and Try Again. Aaliyah recorded the album around 1998 (quite amazing considering that the songs on this album sound so fresh to this day!) but had to reschedule her recording time since she started taking acting roles in TV dramas & films such as New York Undercover (1997), Romeo Must Die (2000) and Queen Of The Damned (2002). Babygirl was quite a busy woman juggling both her singing and acting career. During the time where she was shooting her role for Queen Of The Damned which was shot in the day time, she would make time for her music and do most of her recording at the night (talk about commitment and dedication!)

Personally for me, this album goes hard in terms of the unique sounds from Timbo and lyrical content with people such as Missy Elliot and Static Major from R&B group Playa. Aaliyah touched on many aspects of relationships from Rock The Boat which is very sensual and sexual to I Care 4 U (Originally recorded with the One In A Million album) where it talks about a woman holding it down for a man on his down days and showing him that no matter what, she will always be there to comfort him and keep him happy always (something I can truly relate to). With regards to production we have many interesting sounds introducing many genre's with infused flavors of Hip-Hop, Neo-Soul, Funk, Electronica, Middle Eastern, Alternative Rock and Latin.

During the time of her heightened film career Aaliyah was well known for being a huge Nine Inch Nails fan and admired a lot of Trent Reznors (lead singer of Nine Inch Nails) work who she wanted to work with and produce a track. Unfortunately they never got around to this as their busy hectic schedules would always clash with one another. I always do wonder what the tracks would of sounded like if they ever had the chance to create something, as Trent Reznor has made a lot of interesting soundtracks for many films. I'm sure they would of no doubt created something spectacular and special.

Ultimately it saddens me that she had passed away just after shooting her Rock The Boat video, since she had so much more to give to her fan base. Essentially she was like a triple threat, not only could she sing, she could dance and act, so you will always question and think to yourself, how far could she have gone at the peak of her career? During this time she was also aware of what was happening with the UK Garage scene which was at it's height in the early 2000's. Who knows...she might of even thrown a little 2 step Garage beat for other future releases. Definitely an album that was way ahead of its time.