Aaliyah - Rock the Boat

Yes, a shame her career never quite got off the ground...

Huh? She'd already been famous for years when she died. "Rock the Boat" isn't very good. She had a lot of better singles earlier in her career

IMO Rock the Boat had the most crossover appeal of any the singles that were released, before she died. She was about to take herself to another level with this.

remember after she died when all the black and blatinx guys in the hood were getting tattooed with her name in a cursive letters?

r3, her final album was bombing until her death sent it back up the charts

Her earlier stuff was better

I liked her self-titled but her earlier albums had better singles like "4-Page Letter" and "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number".

Also, I think she would have still enjoyed success in the 2000s if she played her cards right. Maybe keep doing movies and transition into more TV work. I still have Aaliyah, Mya and Brandy on rotation.

Like River and Leo and Selena and J. Lo. People always say Beyonce wouldn't be big if Aaliyah kept living.

That is so exaggerated as Destiny's Child was huge in 2000 with Say My Name and Independent Woman and Beyonce probably was filming Goldmember before Aaliyah's death. Once she dropped Crazy in Love and hooked up with Jay-Z, her success was cemented. I do think Aaliyah is more a class act and articulate while Beyonce comes across as not very educated.

Wasn't she basically a child when she started fucking a grown ass pedophile? Yeah classy. Maybe she was more articulate than Beyonce (most high school kids are) but she was obviously misguided with questionable decisions.

^Yeah you're right. R. Kelly unfortunately exploited her. Her parents though threw her to the wolves. Surprisingly, she managed to stay poised and collected in the aftermath. Her family seems to be exploiting her name and image to still make a profit just like Prince's family.

Mathew and Tina may be stage parents who backstabbed and manipulated everyone to get Bey to the top but they still protected their kids (and Kelly.).

Too soon, R1.

I was kid when she died. She seemed like a beautiful princess to me

My favorite song of hers. A real head bopper. Sexy song but not blatant. And she looked hot in the video.

Aaliyah has some classics, really like “if your girl only knew” and “you are love”

Aaliyah's "Try Again" (2000) was the first song ever to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 based solely on radio airplay.

I loved Rock the Boat; it's light and breezy. But I didn't get much into her beyond that.

Four Page Letter is the other Aaliyah song I really like.

[quote]Yeah you're right. R. Kelly unfortunately exploited her. Her parents though threw her to the wolves. Surprisingly, she managed to stay poised and collected in the aftermath. Her family seems to be exploiting her name and image to still make a profit just like Prince's family.

I agree that Aaliyah's perseverance was remarkable. She was also lucky that the scandal of her relationship with R.Kelly took place pre-internet blogs.

Her mother's steadfast denial of the RKelly relationship was ridiculous, but I think Aaliyah herself told her mother to deny it no matter what. Aaliyah totally wanted to leave that behind her and never discussed it. Other than that, her family has been extremely conservative regarding use of her music and image after she died. I Care 4 U was very tastefully done and well received, and not much else was heard after that. They did not support the made for TV Lifetime biopic that everyone panned.

Aaliyah was so alluring. She seemed so effortlessly cool. Today we have Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus and the rest who will do or say anything for attention.

r7, Aaliyah wasn't any more "educated" than Beyonce. She didn't have any education beyond high school, it's not like she was an English Lit major at Wellesley

Weird that people here always go out of their way to attack Beyonce

r4 I remember watching Rock the Boat debut on BET. The first part of the video, when she walked up onto the beach into the camera, to the sound of the ocean, it was incredible at that time. It was like watching someone come back to life as an angel. This was right after 9/11 and people really needed it. The whole hood immortalized her after that

Aaliyah was eloquent and poised as a speaker despite her problems. Just like young Whitney Houston was before the crack took over. Beyonce never exuded that level of grace and classiness though she had a fun party girl image. Her PR team tries very hard to make her seem like she's this deep intellectual who writes all her songs which is why she gets so much backlash.

R21 Even with crack, Whitney did better interviews than Beyoncé.

Didn"t Aaliyah get into and briefly attend Sarah Lawrence College or is that a myth?

My favorite songs of hers are the Isleys' cover "At Your Best" and "Journey to the Past" from the Anastasia soundtrack. The song was nominated for an Oscar and Aaliyah performed it at the '98 ceremony. Neve Campbell, struggling with nerves, introduced Aaliyah and badly mispronounced her name. "Journey" lost the oscar to "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic. Sigh, I miss the 90s.

"She didn't have any education beyond high school, it's not like she was an English Lit major at Wellesley"

English lit majors at Wellesley are morons.

[Quote] Once she dropped Crazy in Love and hooked up with Jay-Z, her success was cemented.

I guess it's a good thing Aaliyah didn't want Jay for herself.

It’s definitely impossible to know what Beyoncé’s career would have been or not been if Aaliyah had lived. There’s no doubt that Aaliyah was way classier and cooler and also fairly competitive to hold her own against other competitive female artists. Having said that, Beyoncé made RnB crossover in a way that other artists hadn’t when she released “crazy in love”. She was also universally seen as a sex symbol.

The thing about Beyoncé is that she’s is extremely aggressive and competitive and will literally out-work anyone to be on top. Just the way her music and image has evolved since 2009, it’s clear that she perceived Gaga and then Rihanna to be threats to her dominance.

One would have thought that Beyoncé’s career was in decline around 2011 when she was releasing tracks like “love on top” which were good but not being seen as being as relevant as Rihanna and Gaga, who knew? That bitch will work 24 hours a day if she has to, to dominate. But if she would have competed against Aaliyah, she probably would have been seen as trashy and maybe she would never have ended up with J since Aaliyah was part of that crew. But who knows!

R20 omg MARY!

Meh, I don't now about the Aaliyah vs. Beyonce alternate universe thingy, but I do think both Aaliyah and Tupac would have settled more on acting over music had they lived.

I can see Aaliyah having a Tamala Jones, Regina Hall or even Sanaa Lathan type of career and then doing music sporadically.

Tupac would have been a much edgier, much more threatening version of Will Smith and unlike Will, he'd have an Oscar by now.

R28 Aliyah was a lot more mainstream than those actresses, she had potential to be a bigger movie star depending on whether or not she had the acting chops. Remember she was cast in The Matrix in the role that became Jada’s after her death. She was just in her own lane and had that it factor and determination and shrewdness to continue to maintain her career while other artists like Monica and Brandy sort of fell away.

Aaliyah is/was more authentic than Beyoncé.

Beyoncé was an upper middle class girl from The suburbs in Texas singing about thugs. She has always come across as manufactured.

r30, Aaliyah was well-connected - her uncle was married to Gladys Knight. She wasn't a "thug" either so....whatever.

R30 she did marry a a former “thug” tho so I guess she knows a bit about that now.

R31 calm down beyhive I didn’t call Beyoncé a thug lol. She comes across inauthentic especially compared to Aaliyah.

Aaliyah grew up in Brooklyn and Detroit. So she is more authentically urban than Beyonce who is country and bourgeois. Destiny's Child had a song called Soldier glorifying sexy thugs.

So what if she lived in Brooklyn? She wasn't a "thug"

Btw, isn't Beyonce from Houston? That's not the country and it has a larger population than Detroit.

I like both Aaliyah and Beyonce. Weird that some people here think the only way they can build up Aaliyah is by trashing Beyonce.

Beyonce is no different than other rappers that try to act hood and hard despite having privileged beginnings. Starting with her 2013 album she has been trying to sell herself as this hood queen/bottom bitch, the Bonnie to Jay-Z's Clyde.

Aaliyah’s music was basically filler. Pseudo Quiet Storm music with even less depth.

Houston is a big suburb. It has a large population because it's sprawled out.

R35 work on reading comprehension

Aaliyah wasn't a thug but she never acted like one nor claimed to be one. But she was more close to that environment than Beyonce was. Beyonce tries too hard to have street cred. I feel it could be Jay's influence. Houston does have ghetto areas but I doubt she was raised in those areas.

Why do ignorant people like R37 display their ignorance so proudly? Bizarre.

r39, you're the one who needs reading comprehension.

R36 she had to reinvent herself as edgy following the explosion of Gaga and Rihanna’s good girl gone bad era and enduring image as an edgy pop star thereafter.

R8 Being manipulated, seduced, and ultimately RAPED by a man in his twenties when she was only 14 says nothing about her, in terms of class. She was a kid and he was a whole ass man!! That wasn’t her fault. That creep raped a lot of little girls. I don’t care if those kids peruses him or lied blah blah blah....he is a well documented rapist and piece of shit.

Come on, she was famous since a teen, i remember Back and forth on the charts. And Try again was number one on the billboard hot 100

It weirds me out how sexual and grown Aaliyah, Usher and Immature's image and lyrics were in the 90s. Wouldn't fly today.

“Are You That Somebody” was my intro into music videos and hard R&B/hip hop at age 11. I’ll never forget how obsessed I was with the dancing and the funky beat. And then the flamenco dancing at the end! Yesss! Destiny’s Child would come later for me, but this video made my summer of ‘98.

This was a great song. Compare it to the crap that's called R&B now and there's no comparison. It's simple and sexy without her exposing her ass crack. She also did the whole snake thing before Britney Spears did at the VMAs.

R48 Right now a lot of R&B singers use autotune. That would be considered offensive in the past were R&B singers were supposed to be great singers who don't need that crap

Some fucktard was blasting WAP at a gas station when some kids were outside. I wanted to pitch something at her.

r46, you must not listen to hip hop if you think no one is doing explicitly sexual lyrics

r49, I'm sure Aaliyah used autotune. So did a lot of people.

All hip hop is about sex right now, well sex and money and how successful you are

Aaliyah was obviously a big...inspiration to Beyonce

Beyonce's style isn't very similar to Aaliyah's, actually

Beyonce is more Diana Ross and Donna Summer flashy diva theatrics.

There's similarities. Keep trying to hit that note Bey!

r57, why are you so hung up on Beyonce? This thread is about Aaliyah.

R56 Diana Ross mixed with Tina Turner. Her performance style, look and feel is basically Tina. Watch the private dancer video and then dejavu video and you’ll see it.

R41, cunt, that’s your title. You’re what happens when a woman can’t remember who fucked and can’t be sure who the baby daddy is.

Aaliyah, Mya, Ashanti, Ciara and Tinashe all named Janet Jackson as an inspiration. TLC was an inspiration for Destiny's Child, Blaque, Spice Girls, 702, Cleopatra and Total. Beyonce as previous posters said borrowed heavily from Diana Ross, Tina Turner and Donna Summer.

[Quote] she had to reinvent herself as edgy following the explosion of Gaga and Rihanna’s good girl gone bad era and enduring image as an edgy pop star thereafter.

Must have been weird to have Rihanna signed onto Jay's record label.

r27 I know, that was my MARY moment!

I get what r46 is saying. In the 90s, especially in R&B, it was a thing for labels to have young girls (at the time) like Aaliyah, Brandy and Monica sing very mature lyrics. It was meant to be a display of their talents, that they could carry these songs like someone who was much older. That was a very 90s trend to have child stars act like they were adults who had been through heartbreak, etc. RKelly and Timbaland just gave Aaliyah street flavor. Now that is very passe, the young artists are just crazy as fuck and its on trend to act like wild teenager until you are 35.

R63 it’s so weird how young girls were sexualised like that and people didn’t call it out. The way Monica presented herself and the things she was singing about at 14 years old. At least with Aaliyah, you know it had more to do with her own desire to be that way and her being taken advantage of by R. Kelly but I really don’t understand it with Monica. This is why we now have shows like “cuties” on Netflix. These pedo in power.

Wasn't she coming back from filming the Rock the Boat video in the Caribbean when her plane went down? I always loved "Back and Forth."

Yes R65, that was the video she was filming before she died.

Too much baggage to be a huge star.

R67, apparently getting molested or raped by an older man is a prerequisite in the entertainment industry.

I know r68

[quote]This was a great song.

Hah, typical R&B over-produced schlock. A couple of short, nearly unconnected phrases repeated over and over by overdubbed harmonies, strung together by whispered ad libs. No actual song there at all, no structure, no melody. Nothing but production.

r70 feel free to post a song that you have created which you think is better. We'll wait.

Interestingly, despite her music being so popular, most of Aaliyah's catalog has never been available in digital format. Her three albums were distributed by three different labels, which led to complications making her music available for online purchase.

Her estate said today they are working on bringing her albums to streaming platforms.

It's crazy how in the past there was no problem with having multiple black female artists being popular at the same time. All beautiful and of different complexions and hair textures.

Then come the 2000s and light skin with long hair became the prerequisite to getting a contract, look at Beyonce, Alicia, Jhene, Ciara, Ashanti, Leona, Jordin, Cassie, Christina Milian and Rihanna. Jennifer Hudson, Jazmine Sullivan, Kelly Rowland and Fantasia were exceptions but none of them really got that big or had mainstream appeal.

Now it seems only two or three black female artists can be big at a time. It's been Bey, Rih and Nicki at the top for almost a decade. I know people want Lizzo and Normani to be big but neither are that exceptional. Cardi and Megan are too vulgar. I love Tinashe but I think her shot at major stardom has past.

r73, I think it has more to do with R&B being shuttered as a popular genre as a whole. You had that variety then because labels could sell R&B and they supported black women. As soon as the genre started folding, the labels narrowed it down to the few who they could crossover.

There was also way more artist development back then as well. Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Aaliyah, Ashanti, Mya, etc all worked in the industry for many many years before they hit it big. They were repackaged and reinvented several times over by executives, into refined hit making machines before they even debuted. Today you have to do all of that yourself on social media, and most of the time it doesn't work out.

I see what you did there R67.

I was on a cruise when this happened. The entire boat was distraught.

Minaj needs to be cancelled. Nasty bitch.

I remember the film she did with Jet Li, which was a modern-day multiracial reimagining of the Romeo and Juliet story, set to martial arts. I think they actually had negative chemistry, though that was really Jet Li's fault rather than hers.

Was she the first celebrity to be killed by her own wardrobe?

Her last hit was a real smash!

Yikes, that's the actual carnage R79? I've never seen it before. That's horrible.

CRAZY IN LOVE by Beyoncé is NOT AN R&B SONG.

Just because a black woman sang it doesn’t make it R&B. It’s full on POP

R80 how? Those images were all over the internet and news back when it happened.

Yes R78, Romeo Must Die was not a great movie, but I liked the R&B on the soundtrack. Aaliyah’s “Try Again“ and “I Don’t Wanna” were great fun, as was DC3’s “Get on the Bus” tbh.

I guess I managed to avoid it all these years.

[quote] [R3], her final album was bombing until her death sent it back up the charts

Not entirely true. It debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 200 and the label hadn't really started working it. "Rock The Boat" and "I Care 4 U" would have been chart hits.

I used to love Aaliyah. She was talented, hard working and wanted to build a huge career. She also was working on branching out of R&B and doing different genres. She was planning on working with some Country artists to do Collabs with etc.

She also had Queen of the Damned coming out, which SHE was getting good reviews for, and was cast in The Matrix films, which would have been huge for her.

It’s a shame we never got to see what would have been.

Beyoncé would still have existed as a solo act.

Aaliyah was a huge Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails fan. I always thought that was a cool little fact about her.

[Quote] I love Tinashe but I think her shot at major stardom has past.

I like her too and wish she was bigger. I really liked her last album. Same goes for Amerie.

[Quote] Yes [R78], Romeo Must Die was not a great movie, but I liked the R&B on the soundtrack. Aaliyah’s “Try Again“ and “I Don’t Wanna” were great fun, as was DC3’s “Get on the Bus” tbh.

I haven't watched it in forever but i do remember loving the soundtrack. I'm surprised there hasn't been a reboot.

The video for Rock The Boat get's mama's mussy damper than a lawn on an early September morning.

Missy Elliott had a serious crush on Aaliyah too. She was devastated by her death.

R90 that doesn’t mean she had a Crush on her. Most of Hollywood was devastated by her death.

No, Missy did have a crush on her. And no, most of Hollywood did not mourn her passing. A lot of fans of R&B music were saddened and rightfully so, but most of Hollywood (read: white) didn’t care.

R92 that isn’t true.

Yes it is. Don’t inflate the magnitude of her effect on pop culture. She was pretty and reasonably talented, but most of Hollywood barely took notice. At least not until the tea on R. Kelly started to spill. What he did to her was worse than anything.

R94 that is a lie. No matter how many times you claim it.

Sorry r95. We can agree to disagree. Show me the press that claims her death stunned Hollywood?

Her death was all that was spoken about until 9/11

Aaliyah's death did affect Hollywood. She was becoming a starlet with roles in Romeo Must Die, Queen of the Damned and was casted as Zee in The Matrix. Yes, it was a bigger impact on the Black community but she was crossing over and I'm sure it affected many others too.

Aaliyah appeared on the super-white TRL and the white teens were going crazy. She had that Beyonce, Ciara and Rihanna type of crossover appeal

Missy seemed to love Ciara too probably because she reminded her of a young Aaliyah.

She was like the Selena of the Black community. Well-spoken, calm and poised, a bit tomboyish but effortlessly beautiful and sexy. J. Lo and Beyonce get compared to both but both seem much tacker in comparison.

Aaliyah was poised to take over from Whitney as a crossover singer-actress. Whitney was getting a reputation in Hollywood as a druggie even as the public was still oblivious to this facet of her life. Aaliyah enters the discussion as a being younger, talented, and pretty with same crossover appeal that Whitney had. But because of Aaliyah’s history of being exploited by R Kelly and to some extent by her own family, who know if had she lived she would’ve gone down the same self-destructive path as Whitney.

Yes, R91, I vividly remember Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks and many others commenting on Aaliyah's death.

I never really thought of Aaliyah as a successor of Whitney, more like a protege, because their styles were so drastically different. Aaliyah was making her own lane in the industry, she had a very unique style that people are still captivated by years later. They did have similar very accents into music and acting.

Here is Whitney discussing Aaliyah and "Sparkle"

Whitney and Aaliyah both have great screen presence, charisma and were believable in the roles they played. I never thought Brandy was that good of an actress as she was wooden in Moesha and Cinderella. Beyonce and Rihanna cannot act at all though Rihanna is a tiny bit more believable.

Aaliyah was beautiful. Brandy was a dog.

An aircraft could land on Brandi's sixhead.

And her latest album b7 is trash, that conceited bitch.

I see Beyonce is now on the thread!

Aaliyah's self-titled album was bombing before she passed. However, I remember hearing some of it in a restaurant and liked it. A few weeks later she was dead.

I remember it being huge news before 9/11. It was very shocking because she was so young and still a rising star.

I think Aaliyah would have had a successful career in movies, and it eventually would have eclipsed her music career. I also think she would have branched out into fashion and perfumes and like J.Lo but Aaliyah's would have been much more successful, especially because Aaliyah was more stylish.

I remember We Need A Resolution being played constantly on MTV and BET during summer 2001. Its hard to imagine now almost 20 years later that her album was still struggling to take off before she died.

Rock the Boat barely made the Aaliyah album, and Virgin did not want it to be the next single because Timbaland wasnt on it. Radio liked the song and so did Aaliyah, so she demanded that the label make it the next single for the album.

Timbaland is such a one trick phony. All he adds to a song is bicka bicka bicka baby girl, uh.

r112, Timbaland was way more than those ad-libs he did on her songs. He basically engineered the second phase of Aaliyah's music career post RKelly, and they had a special connection. He did the same thing for Justin Timberlake.

This version was better.

I’m late to this, but R23: Aaliyah didn’t attend Sarah Lawrence. I’ve never heard that before, but there was never even a rumor she’d applied during the time she would have gone.

I loved the whole crew in the late 90’s (in order from Nicole Wray’s Make It Hot lol): “Timbaland, Magoo, Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Missy, Playa”, not to mention Static Major, who sang on Ginuwine’s Final Warning with Aaliyah.

“Here We Come” with the Spider-Man vamp, and Aaliyah’s butterfly vocalization on the chorus brings back so many fun memories.

R113 I'd also add Nelly Furtado to that list.

Timballand was instrumental in Missy Elliott's success. In the 00s, it seemed like he was everywhere.

Three queens

Aaliyah should have bearded for Lance instead of Topanga from Boy Meets World it would been more interesting

Aaliyah looks bored

R121, I can't blame her, she's surrounded by mediocrity.

NSYNC really wanted to get that street cred. Posing with Aaliyah, having JC be featured on a Blaque song, doing a song with Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and making a cover of Janet's "That's The Way Love Goes".

r121 she was not feeling those Mama Tina fashions 😁

Destiny's Child were country as hell with those tacky fashions made by Mama Tina. Beyonce still dresses like a Southern bumpkin.

Well r125, Beyonce's net worth eclipses most of her peers, I just learned on another thread that Britney's money aint looking too good. So Beyonce can thank Mama Tina for slaving over Joann's fabrics during those early years!

That's the thing about Aaliyah, she was just effortlessly cool. She had great style. Which is why I think she would have moved into fashion and she probably would have obliterated all the other bitches.

Those Destiny's Child outfits were absolutely hideous.

R126 Yeah, Beyonce benefited from having parents who were thrifty and financially literate and she got married off to a big-name rapper who also was financially literate and a successful businessman. Britney made terrible life decisions though likely due to mental illnesses and drug abuse.

[quote]...her album was still struggling to take off before she died.

[quote] Beyonce benefited from having parents who were thrifty and financially literate and she got married off to a big-name rapper who also was financially literate and a successful businessman

This is why I find the media generated image of her being superwoman so comical. Everything she does is so contrived that it seems like some executive or mogul told her "hey, incorporate this into your song, and you'll make millions!". And then she does that and her fans go on about how "fierce" and "incredible" she is.

Beyonce is as manufactured as they come. She's not really different from Madonna, Paula, Britney, Christina, Janet, Rihanna, Katy, Gaga, J Lo, Taylor and Miley. She has a team of writers, agents and producers on call and marrying Jay-Z ensured her strong connections in getting the best industry people she can find. Now there is nothing wrong with being a pop performer but the media and stans make it seem like Beyonce is this multitalented goddess who does everything on her own and you're misogynistic and racist for not liking her. Even Janet fans can admit that without MJ's influence and the production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis Janet may not have been able to have a big pop career. Aaliyah fans admit that R. Kelly and Timbaland helped her career. We all know J. Lo's story. But Beyonce fans refuse to believe Beyonce has dozens of songwriters and producers and a marketing team that got her to where she is.

R131, exactly. Beyonce's fans all act like she single-handedly invented black feminism out of thin air (just like her so-called "talents").

Gurl !!! There is only one "Rock The Boat" that should be celebrated in this forum

Destiny's Child was better when it was 4 members. But LaTavia and LeToya were legitimately talented and beautiful girls and Mr. Knowles had to get rid of them so his daughter could take center stage. That's where awkward looking Michelle who lacked confidence and strong vocals came in and then Farrah who couldn't even sing or dance came in. Just to make Beyonce look better. But Destiny's Child's Writings on the Wall was a legit good album. The whole sisterhood, female empowerment thing on Survivor comes as so fake and pandering especially when Beyonce and Kelly ditched LaTavia and LeToya like a bunch of mean girls.

I listened to the Aaliyah album. I can see why it underperformed. It's a very vibey/groove record, not hooky. In the UK, they added "Try Again" as the final track. None of the tracks measure up to "Try Again."

[Quote] Knowles had to get rid of them so his daughter could take center stage.

Beyonce always had centre stage.

[Quote] Which is why I think she would have moved into fashion and she probably would have obliterated all the other bitches.

It hasn't worked out for Victoria Beckham. It wouldn't have worked out for Aaliyah. She might have had a Jaclyn Smith style success (Walmart etc.) but not high fashion. That game is no joke.

The first time I ever heard of her was when she died in that plane crash.

1996 to 2001 is an eternity in pop years.

R136 She did but you had LeToya who many considered just as beautiful and then LaTavia who had the sassiness, charisma and the beautiful afro hairstyles that made her stick out. Both were confident and chatty too. Getting rid of them which just left Kelly who while many would consider more beautiful than Bey was darker skinned (colorism) and had unflattering short haircuts and then adding Michelle who was rather average looking too and both Kelly and Michelle lacked the confidence to try to upstage Beyonce. Then Farrah who was pretty but lacked any talent which made Beyonce look even better.

All the losers above know how to do is hate on Beyoncé. Get a motherfucking life.

I loved tWotW as a teen, R134, but I laughed at a recent FB post which describes it as

[quote] Listening to The Writings on the Wall as an adult is so funny because Destiny's Child really had us going up for fuckshit behavior in the fifth grade like it wasn't nothing. Beyonce an Nem said pay my bills, but don't bug me, say my name if nobody is around, but I'm going to the club to find a baller, I'm confessing I cheated, but please stay, and I'll leave you if this other dude leaves his girlfriend for me. And here's a gospel song. 🤣🤣🤣

This video sums up how the DC structure was already set up. The change to Michelle and Farrah didn't do shit to what was already established.

People don't hate Beyonce. Many acknowledge her talent and ambition. But they just hate what she has become and feel she's a hypocrite with her "black female empowerment" shtick. When you constantly bombard the media with your image and have a fanbase that treats you like a goddess. People are going to criticize that.

Back when MTV/BET used to be somewhat music related.

Well r137 it worked for Jessica Simpson, who is also a peer of Aaliyah. I think Aaliyah could've been like her. Aaliyah was extremely well connected in the business from a very young age and thats what you need to be successful in that industry.

Can we talk about Rashad for a moment. After my teenaged self found out Aaliyah had this fine ass brother, I was infatuated! He was so shy and beautiful, a lot like her. He became extremely protective of her legacy, almost to the point where he shot down any new project that even referenced her. I hope he has softened up so younger generations can start referencing her work with his blessing.

Jessica Simpson would not have her shoe success (or whatever) if not for her reality TV career. She wouldn't have it based on her music or movies. Aaliyah would be Ciara if she were still alive.

[quote]But they just hate what she has become and feel she's a hypocrite with her "black female empowerment" shtick.

r144 can you explain how she's a hypocrite about black female empowerment?

R147 I agree. Jessica's pop career wasn't that big. Ashlee Simpson had a bigger singing (and acting) career. She got famous for her reality show and ill-fated marriage to Nick Lachey.

[Quote] black female empowerment

"Cater 2 U," "Nasty Girl," Becky with the good hair, Eat the Cake, Anna Mae.

Well Jessica had reality TV, Aaliyah had movies. Hell Beyonce was still doing Carmen a Hip-Opera when Aaliyah died! 😆Aaliyah had some years on them so she was lining up roles.

R148 Like Nicki Minaj. Beyonce sees herself as this strong black woman but she relies on her sex appeal, her Eurocentric features (light skin, straight blonde hair, nose jobs), sings songs about pleasuring men and being a beautiful diva. Her stunt with Lemonade where the PR team insinuated Jay-Z cheated on her and yet the conclusion where she still continues being married to him doesn't really add up to being an independent woman. Especially when a lot of black women complain about black men not respecting them. She has also has habit of taking away spotlight from more deserving black women artists. Like Ledisi who should have sung at the Grammys instead of her. Beyonce doesn't write her own songs (she may contribute bits and pieces but that isn't writing a song) and she had many connections early on mostly through the men in her life like Mathew and Jay-Z. Black feminists like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and bell hooks both criticized Beyonce in fact. Beyonce uses a lot of visuals and imagery from African diaspora but in a rather shallow way to add depth to her image but it doesn't have anything to do with the actual lyrics. Again, none of this would be an issue if her team didn't act like she was a leader for black female empowerment. It just makes her look like a hypocrite. No one is saying she is not talented or hardworking but the reality is she is just a pop star.

Aaliyah had a Stuart Townsend vehicle and a Jet Lit vehicle. Those two were gone in a flash. I can't see a way forward for Aaliyah musically. She was shakey live. Could she have had a Solange hipster career? Maybe. I certainly don't think she would have embarrassed herself butt scooting along the floor like Ashanti.

Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Bessie Smith, Odetta, Lauryn Hill, Tracy Chapman, Meshell N'Degeocello, Jill Scott and India.Arie are better examples of black female artists who do the empowerment thing better.

[Quote] Beyonce sees herself as this strong black woman

Doe she? She's a salesman. She'll sell whatever she and her team thinks people will buy.

Wow. Y’all need to get a fucking life and back off Beyoncé. You are obsessed fr

Interesting view r152. I honestly dont think Beyonce has made music for Black people since Dangerously in Love. After Single Ladies, she became an artist for mass consumption (White people). So whenever she puts out music, I just assume its made for the masses. That's fine with me, she has worked really hard to be a pop artist. If she can help White people out there like Black people more, with her fake African visuals, than so be it. I just wont be listening to that shit.

And like I said before, being that R&B has been shuttered as a genre in favor of rap, black women who are singers just aren't going to be as visible anymore. By default that puts artists like Beyonce at the forefront. She still satisfies the waning demand for black singers. So labels aren't going out their way to give her, the megastar, competition. If people start supporting R&B again, artists like Ledisi will get more opportunity to be seen.

[Quote] Eat the Cake, Anna Mae.

I thought she was going to get more backlash for that.

Fake weaves, twerking and being dumber than a box of hair hardly screams female empowerment. Beyoncé is so fucking fake. It kills me when she had her baby shower and she was going for this all natural goddess look with baby’s breath in her hair. Shit, it was the only real thing on her head. That fake, straw like weave and those vulgar gold goddess dresses she and her acolytes were wearing. Completely ridiculous.

Beyoncé is where she’s at because she worked hard, kept her mouth shut and did what her parents and boyfriend told her to do. Keeping her career afloat has involved a major propaganda campaign of false mystique and pretentiousness. Anyone could have been what she is now had they the same backing as she did. Ask Keri Hilson.

Do white women's fake hair annoy you as much?

I don’t know why this turned into yet another Beyoncé hate thread. That is not what Aaliyah would want.

Aaliyah would have made the transition to films and movies while still doing albums on the side. R&B died out in the 2000s and I don't know if she would have transitioned her sound to a more electropop (like Ciara, Katy and Gaga) or more hip-hop (like Nicki and Beyonce) sound to compete.

[Quote] Aaliyah would have made the transition to films and movies while still doing albums on the side.

Whose career do you see as similar to what Aaliyah would have done? She wasn't in the same lane as a Jill Scott. Maybe a "Being Mary Jane" TV series like Gabrielle Union. Sadly, she could have gone the same way as Mya or Ashanti (obscurity).

Maybe she could have had a sitcom like Eve and Brandy did. If she took more acting lessons and worked hard, she could have navigated Hollywood and got roles like Jada Pinkett Smith and Zoe Saldana. It's all about having ambition. Mya and Ashanti stuck with making R&B music which died out in the 2000s. Ciara transitioned to a more dance-pop sound but also has became more of a socialite and IG influencer with her marriage to Russell Simmons.

But wasn't Aaliyah's affect sort of, if not flat, reserved. She wasn't a "personality." Her relationship with Timbaland could have kept her in the charts until the late '00s. But beyond then I think her live vocals would have been under scrutiny. She could have excelled in the Sci-Fi route like Zoe Saldana, that's a good suggestion. And people don't expect strong acting in sci-fi/fantasy.

I meant Ciara's marriage to Russell Wilson.

The Eat the Cake, Anna Mae line was so disgusting. I can't believe Tina didn't call her out either. I am sure Tina was disgusted by it.

It just goes to show the Beyonce machine really protects her. I can't wait to see her and Jay Z get their comeuppance.

If Tina wasn't disgusted by her own clothing creations, it doesn't surprise me that she wasn't disgusted by that lyric.

r165 yeah I could have seen Aaliyah flourishing the in the Sci-Fi and action genres. She probably would've been cast in the new Star Wars movies and other big franchises, earning huge checks. And even some dramatic roles.

r163 Aaliyah was in her own lane IMO. If anything, she was most similar to Janet Jackson in style, and how her career developed.

People also forget Janet started out on TV (Good Times, Diff'rent Strokes and Fame) before her music career and still acted in films in her peak like Poetic Justice and The Naughty Professor 2. She did a bunch of Tyler Perry films and kept herself busy after Damita Jo and her other albums flopped.

So if Aaliyah couldn't keep up in the music scene, she definitely could have gone Janet's route and did films. But I also think unlike Janet, Aaliyah had a real serious career in Hollywood with being in Romeo Must Die, Queen of the Damned and casted as Zee in The Matrix. She as others said, could have gone the Zoe Saldana and Halle Berry route in Sci-Fi and action heroines.

“Eat the cake” and Ike Turner’s overall portrayal in the film turned into a bit of a joke, at least in the black community, many years ago. Domestic abuse is still a serious subject. But one can joke about What’s Love Got to Do With It (as a film) in the same breath as Lean on Me, Player’s Club or Baby Boy. At least that’s my experience, and why I think Beyoncé felt she could use it...in a different context of course.

There are so few roles for black actresses that don't fit the large/goofy mould. Maybe Aaliyah would have moved into mentoring/management. I can't imagine her gabbing away on The Talk or The Real.

R172 You reminded me of how stereotypes are so pervasive in the media. Aaliyah was soft-spoken and had a thin physique. Definitely didn't fit the loud overweight or overly curvy black woman stereotype. Ciara seems to have had that similar issue too.

r172 Aaliyah would've been cast simply due to her appearance, especially during the 2000s era when Halle Berry/Thandie Newton types were in. She fit that aesthetic and could've taken roles they didn't want. Now Hollywood casting is way different, you have to look like Cynthia Erivo or Lupita to get work.

Aaliyah was one of the most desired women. Practically every man she worked with has confessed many years later they were secretly in love with her. But out of respect for all the shit she went through as a teenager, they didn't overstep their boundaries. Even that asshole Dame Dash treated Aaliyah like gold, and she didn't even want to claim him as her boyfriend.

[Quote] Ciara seems to have had that similar issue too.

She also had the transgender rumours.

[Quote] Even that asshole Dame Dash treated Aaliyah like gold, and she didn't even want to claim him as her boyfriend.

Smart girl.

I remember those Ciara transgender rumors but never took them seriously. She's tall and muscular, so what? She's a dancer. Was dating Bow Wow who is short and a pretty boy make her look more manly to people? I remember Gaga had transgender rumors too.

Aaliyah with Dionne from Clueless

Aaliyah was tied to Dame Dash, Stacey's brother.

Who would have guessed that Stacey Dash would end up bleaching everything on her body and then be on Fox News hating on black people and then arrested for beating her husband.

cool

"Rock the Boat" sounds fresh after all these years. Manages to be sexual without being over the top. You really see her starpower in the video.

R178, Dame and Stacy Dash are cousins not brother and sister.

A lot of people really gave Whitney flack in the 80s for being "too whitewashed" and she got booed at the Soul Train Awards for "Where Do Broken Hearts Go". Such bullshit. It's stupid and regressive thinking that she wasn't black enough. Whitney grew up in a nice well-to-do home and went to private schools, her aunt was Dionne Warwick. Whitney wasn't on the streets and was very media-trained from a young age. She also modeled in teen magazines before her singing career took off. Bobby Brown who was a street kid from the projects of Boston probably had a bit of an influence on her later behavior, he was a bad boy and very sexy when young and she wanted that excitement. That said, Whitney was a brown-skinned lady who often wore her hair natural and never seemed to be ashamed of being black at all especially compared to Michael Jackson.

I always thought the Rock The Boat sucked and the beginning is creepy sounding to me for some reason.

I loved Try Again (which George Michael sampled in his song Freeek!) and Are You That Somebody.

R184 I'm sure George would have loved to have worked with Aaliyah. He always loved black female singers and took inspiration from them. I thought Adele was a weird choice for his funeral, it should have been a black woman singing because I think he wanted that.

I love Whitney's solo of If I Told You That, which should've been a single from My Love Is Your Love. Never cared for the duet redux. George sounds terrible plus a gay man and a lesbian don't exactly generate heat for a duet.

My Love Is Your Love was a great album. Whitney ruled the 90s with The Bodyguard, Waiting to Exhale, Cinderella and Preacher's Wife soundtrack too. If she hung in there longer and quit the drugs, she would have still have been big in the 2000s. My Love Is Your Love was a great way to modernize her sound. Her voice is much more pleasant to my ears than Mariah's vocal olympics though I like both their music.