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Aaliyah would have been 40 years old today (appreciation thread)

Linkura

Linkura

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,943
Aaliyah passed away 17 1/2 years ago and today would have been her 40th birthday, which I learned because the radio was playing her songs in memory. I can't believe it's been that long.

Just watched the tribute music video for I Miss You and nearly started crying. Such a talent and so many good songs. Who knows how much more awesome music the Princess would have given us if she had not died.



I'm not a great thread maker but I thought she deserved something in her honor on a milestone birthday.

Post your favorite songs of hers and your thoughts/memories. I remember waking up on the day she died and my mom telling me that she had died in a plane accident. It was just a few weeks before 9/11. I was only 13. Fuck.

For those who don't know, she and eight others died in a plane crash after filming her music video "Rock the Boat" in the Bahamas. According to wiki, the pilot was unlicensed and had illicit drugs in his system. Fucking tragic and needless.

 
CB3

CB3

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Oct 25, 2017
194
One of the best. It's a real shame her music is being lost to time because of those weird issues around her music rights.
 

MC-MC

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Dec 15, 2017
520
Your love is a one in a million. It goes on and on and on... 🎶🎶🎶
 
Jedi79

Jedi79

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Oct 27, 2017
407
I was just talking about her the other day and I realized the style she had is exactly what is popular in female R&B today..R.I.P
 
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Linkura

Linkura

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Oct 25, 2017
19,943
My favorite is probably Are You That Somebody? The music video is iconic. I remember it constantly playing on MTV and jamming every time. Perfect production by Timbaland.

 

Deleted member 14377

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Has it really been that long..? I remember watching BET a lot around the time this happened, she really was on the verge of a breakthrough into the mainstream in a huge way, especially with the Matrix. Sure it would have opened the doors even more for her acting career. Incredibly sad all around.
 

Deleted member 279

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Supposedly her uncle has rights to the music and chooses to keep her music off streaming platforms

Coincidentally Ive been listening to her music for the first time in a while

Check out Kendricks tribute to her


While we're at it, who remembers Drakes attempt to make an album with her
 
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Linkura

Linkura

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Oct 25, 2017
19,943
The Grizz said:
Yeah, lots of youth in this forum that never got to listen to her music. She went way, way too early.
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Yeah this is a thread for the oldies. They still play her a fair bit on the local rap and R&B stations though. But I think it's mostly old people like me who listen to old-school radio though lol.
 

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The Last Wizard said:
Dude I remember watching the video on mtv after hours like every night.
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To me it was also the launch of Timbaland being in everything for the next like 7 years lol. The video was just cool, you had Aaliyah doing her thing, all the cool mirror shit and Jet Li just being Jet Li. Her outfit in the video is legit iconic. When I think of her, it's always how she looks in the video.
 

Deleted member 4353

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Classis song from a classic movie from an amazing artist. I had the biggest crush on her back in the day.
 
Malleymal

Malleymal

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Oct 28, 2017
6,303
Yea wtf at her music not being available. They need to change that shit. I listen to At your best all of the time.

Gone too soon
 
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Linkura

Linkura

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Oct 25, 2017
19,943
SEBattleship said:
It's weird to think of her now with all the R. Kelly accusations. I hope he treated her different than the rest of those women.
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I was thinking about that making this thread and it was making me sick. Decided not to mention it in the OP. They were married illegally when she was only 15 and he was 27. That alone is predatory and it makes me fucking sick. R. Kelly is a sick fuck and I hope he finally gets what is coming to him.
 

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Linkura said:
Yeah this is a thread for the oldies. They still play her a fair bit on the local rap and R&B stations though. But I think it's mostly old people like me who listen to old-school radio though lol.
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I think it's the weird disconnect because I was probably like 10/11 when this happened. I guess being reminded of her puts me back in the head space of her tragic end. Paired with the fact she's always going to be 22, just throws me off real hard. But I guess we are the new olds, huh?
 
Fright Zone

Fright Zone

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Dec 17, 2017
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Loved her stuff. Not the hugest fan of RnB in general but her silky smooth vocals over Timbaland's older staccato beats was such a winning combination.
 
Vic Damone Jr.

Vic Damone Jr.

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Oct 27, 2017
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Frecklestein said:
I think it's the weird disconnect because I was probably like 10/11 when this happened. I guess being reminded of her puts me back in the head space of her tragic end. Paired with the fact she's always going to be 22, just throws me off real hard. But I guess we are the new olds, huh?
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Same here, I remember the exact same as well. Her music wasn't synonymous with R&B and the summer when I was growing up
 
InspectaDekka

InspectaDekka

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Jan 4, 2019
1,820
Never really given her music a listen but she was inspired by one of the best musical acts ever, Nine Inch Nails, so she deserves props from me for having god-tier music taste.

Stranger now considering most rappers now are inspired by Marilyn Manson.
 
Powdered Egg

Powdered Egg

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Oct 27, 2017
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I think my favorite Aaliyah song is More Than A Woman. I generally don't like RnB at all but decided to dabble in the genre with the Aaliyah album and enjoyed it. Timbaland was also a much better RnB producer, his rap stuff at the time was so overrated.
 
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Linkura

Linkura

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Oct 25, 2017
19,943
Frecklestein said:
I think it's the weird disconnect because I was probably like 10/11 when this happened. I guess being reminded of her puts me back in the head space of her tragic end. Paired with the fact she's always going to be 22, just throws me off real hard. But I guess we are the new olds, huh?
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Something tells me that she would look pretty much the same now if she'd lived. I think she would have aged beautifully.
 
Violence Jack

Violence Jack

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Oct 25, 2017
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One of my biggest crushes of the 90s, and probably the first time I wept at hearing about a celebrity dying. This was the first song of hers that made me a fan. I still remember slow dancing to One In A Million during high school dances.

And had she not passed away, she was going to be in the Matrix sequels as the part that went to Jada Pinkett Smith. I should go watch Romeo Must Die tonight.
 
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shadow_shogun

shadow_shogun

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Oct 25, 2017
17,742
How has back and forth not been posted yet?


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At your best will always be a favorite song sang by her.
 

jadjei

Member
Nov 23, 2017
160
RIP Aaliyah, I was 7 when she passed away. What a shame she was going to become an even bigger star.

I also hope that R Kelly gets punished for his crimes. I also hope his other family members that used to/or are still are predators gets what's coming to them too. Sorry for the thread derail. I shouldn't be talking about R Kelly in a thread which celebrates Aaliyah.
 
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Linkura

Linkura

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Oct 25, 2017
19,943
Look at this creepy ass motherfucker creeping on the cover of her first album:
Aaliyah-age-aint-94.jpg
 
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