Aaliyah remains a big star

Aaliyah has fulfilled the promise she evinced as a 15-year-old protégé of R. Kelly. Her first album showed off a pretty and sweet elegant voice that strangely enough, went well with the strong R&B riffs. Coincidentally, the title, Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number turned out to be reflective of the real circumstances then surrounding Aaliyah’s real life. News leaked out that Aaliyah had married Kelly, who was 10 years older. The scandal simmered down after the marriage was annulled. Kelly went on to more controversies, also involving teen-aged girls and Aaliyah prepared for more success as an actress and pop diva.

She starred in the Jet Li blockbuster Romeo Must Die. She played the vampire queen Akasha in the film version of the Anne Rice novel Queen of the Damned. She was cast to play the part of Zee in the two projected sequels of The Matrix with Keanu Reeves. Aaliyah Dana Haughton of Brooklyn, New York, once dreamt of becoming another Whitney Houston and it seemed like she was going to be even bigger. She had recorded two more albums. Her second release One in a Million was not produced anymore by Kelly but that didn’t matter at all as the album turned out to be a multi-platinum success. Her third, Aaliyah was an even bigger seller. It also won a lot of raves for the young artist who had by then started showing maturity and depth.

All that was two years ago. Aaliyah remains a big star today. She has won a Grammy, an MTV Moonman and her hit songs like Back and Forth, At Your Best (You are Love), If Your Girl Only Knew, Are You That Somebody, Journey to the Past from the Anastasia soundtrack, Try Again from the movie Romeo Must Die, We Need a Resolution, More Than a Woman and Rock the Boat continue to be played in radio stations all over the world.

Aaliyah has more than fulfilled the promise. It is just unfortunate that she is no longer around to savor her success. Aaliyah had just finished work on a music video in the Virgin Islands and was on her way home to the US of A when the small plane she was riding on with her staff crashed on the Atlantic Ocean. Fans reacted by listening to more of her music and by making her albums even bigger hits. Miss You from the posthumously released I Care 4 You debuted at number three in the hit charts and has been in the top 10 of Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100 list for the past 21 weeks.

Now available locally, the album I Care 4 You can best be described as the essential Aaliyah. Save for Journey to the Past, it includes most of her hits plus six new unreleased tracks which would have gone into her fourth album including I Care 4 You, Don’t Know What to Tell Ya, and the latest charter Miss You.

Every copy of the CD comes with a VCD which contains 10 videos and behind the scenes materials. Fans will also be happy to see Aaliyah immortalized in all her beauty in the photographs that grace the cover. The two Matrix are set to open within the next few weeks. I do not know who took over Aaliyah’s role of Zee. Her fans might still enjoy the movie but there will always be a sense of loss at the tragedy that befell the beautiful and talented Aaliyah.

As for R. Kelly, take note that although controversy continues to hound him, he also remains a big hitmaker. His single Ignition is number two in the singles list while his album Chocolate Factory, which debuted at number one is now at number 10. Here are the latest lists from Billboard:

The singles: In Da Club by 50 Cent; Ignition by R. Kelly; Get Busy by Sean Paul; Picture by Kid Rock featuring Sheryl Crow or Allison Moorer; When I’m Gone by 3 Doors Down; Miss You by Aaliyah; Beautiful by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell & Uncle Charlie Wilson; How You Gonna Act Like That by Tyrese; Excuse Me Miss by Jaz-Z; and 21 Questions 50 Cent featuring Nate Dogg.

The albums: Meteora by Linkin Park; Get Rich or Die Tryin’ by 50 Cent; Now 12 by Various Artists; One Heart by Celine Dion; Come Away with Me by Norah Jones; Elephant by The White Stripes; The Very Best of Cher by Cher; Chicago, the movie soundtrack; Fallen by Evanescence; and Chocolate Factory by R. Kelly.