Aaliyah (album)

Aaliyah
Studio album by Aaliyah
Released	July 17, 2001 (see release history)
Recorded	August 1996–March 9, 2001[1][1] Murlyn Studios (Stockholm, Sweden)[1][1] Flyte Tyme Studios (Atlanta, Georgia, United States) [1][1] The Record Plant (Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States)[1][1] Australia[1][1]
Genre	R&B, soul, pop, neo soul
Length	65:40
Label	Blackground, Virgin, EMI
Producer	Aaliyah, Barry Hankerson (exec.), Bud'da, J-Dub, Rapture, E. Seats, Timbaland
Aaliyah chronology
One in a Million (1996) Aaliyah (2001) I Care 4 U (2002)
Singles from Aaliyah
"We Need a Resolution" Released: April 24, 2001 "Rock the Boat" Released: August 11, 2001 "More Than a Woman" Released: November 13, 2001 "I Refuse" Released: November 13, 2001 "I Care 4 U" Released: August 6, 2002

Aaliyah (stylized as ΛΛLIYΛH) is the self-titled third and final studio album by American R&B singer Aaliyah, released by Blackground and Virgin Records on July 17, 2001, in the United States. The album has sometimes been referred to as "The Red Album."^[2] It was primarily produced by Keybeats, with additional production by Timbaland, Bud'da, Jeffrey "J-Dub" Walker and Static Major, with lyrics by Static Major and Missy Elliott. Aaliyah features soul, pop, and neo soul styles in its sound, as well as elements of funk, hip hop and electronica.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

It was nominated for a 2002 Grammy Award for Best R&B Album, among other honors. In April 2001, Aaliyah spoke highly of the album saying, "It is my version of Control."^[8] Recent reception has also been positive. The album was listed as one of the best releases of the 2000's by Slant Magazine. ^[9]

Contents 1 Background and development 2 Content 3 Releases and promotion 3.1 Singles 4 Reception 4.1 Critical response 4.2 Commercial performance 5 Track listing 5.1 U.S. Special Edition bonus DVD 5.2 Re-release 6 Leftover tracks 7 Credits and personnel 7.1 Production 8 Charts and certifications 8.1 Chart positions 8.2 End of decade charts 8.3 Certifications 8.4 Sales 9 Awards 10 Release history 10.1 2001 10.2 2002–2009 11 References 12 External links

Background and development

Preparation for the album started in 1998 but, with the filming of martial arts film Romeo Must Die (2000), Aaliyah postponed the recording of the album. Artists Timbaland and Missy Elliott, who were both major contributors on previous album One in a Million, were involved in disagreements with Aaliyah's label Blackground Records at the time and did not work on the project. Blackground owner Barry Hankerson envisioned another label similar to Bad Boy on the West Coast, and consulted lesser known writers and producers signed to his publishing company. These artists included Bud'da, Jeffrey "J-Dub" Walker, and Rapture, and E. Seats of Keybeats.^[10] Stephen "Static Major" Garrett of the R&B trio Playa, who had penned the singer's previous hit singles "Are You That Somebody? and "Try Again," became involved in the project.^[10]

Much of the album was completed in various studios throughout New York City prior to Aaliyah's trip to Australia for the filming of Queen of the Damned (2002).^[10] While recording process lasted more than a year, most of the tracks were completed by early 2000, when the production team and songwriters had secured recording time at New York Sound King Studios to work on the album together.^[10] In September 2000, Virgin Records flew the group out to Australia, where it spent a month recording the majority of the album at the Sing Sing Studio in Melbourne with Aaliyah.^[10] With three recording studios going simultaneously, producers J-Dub, Bud’da and Keybeats each worked in separate rooms.^[10] During the sessions, Garrett and co-writer Digital Black would move from studio to studio to check each producers' progress.^[10] At peak periods, they would work on 10 songs at the same time.^[10] With filming ending in Australia in December 2000, production of the album went into full-force in America and Europe.

Content

The first single from the album was intended to be "Loose Rap",^[11] with a dance-oriented video to accompany. However, in the last week before picking songs, Timbaland started to work on material for the project. With Timbaland involved, the team decided the first single should be a Timbaland record and "We Need a Resolution" was released as the lead single.^[12]

The sixth track, titled "I Care 4 U", was initially recorded in 1996 for the album One in a Million, but had not been completed in time for mastering.^[1] Aaliyah approached Trent Reznor to produce a song for the album.^[13]

Releases and promotion

Aaliyah was released through Blackground on July 17, 2001. Aaliyah co-hosted MTV’s Total Request Live in July 2001 to promote the album. She performed the expected second single "More Than a Woman" on Live with Regis & Kelly, The View and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in July 2001. Aaliyah also went to France to promote the single More Than a Woman on GermanTV. At the time of her death, she had more concerts scheduled in different countries such as Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Russia, China and the Middle East.^[14][15]

Singles

• The first single, "We Need a Resolution," (featuring Timbaland) was released in late April in the United States. "We Need a Resolution" reached number fifty nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the issue dated June 9, 2001, and remained on the chart for sixteen weeks. The song received moderate success internationally. "We Need a Resolution" reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart and the top 30 in Canada. The music video was premiered on Much More Music, BET's 106 & Park and MTV's TRL on April 26, 2001.

• "Rock the Boat", the second single, was released in early August. Aaliyah started promotion for the expected second single "More Than a Woman", but the single was pushed back because her label felt "Rock the Boat" was a summer single that needed to be released. "Rock the Boat" was the second single in America while and the third single internationally. On the Billboard Hot 100, the song entered the chart September 8, 2001, at number fifty-seven^[16] and peaked at number 14 in its twelfth week.^[17] The song stayed on the chart for twenty-five weeks.^[18]

• The third single, "More Than a Woman," was released in November 2001. Promotion for the single started in July 2001 but was pushed back. In the Billboard Hot 100, the song entered the chart dated issue February 2, 2002, at number seventy-one^[19] and peaked at number twenty-five in its ninth week.^[20] The song stayed in the chart for twenty-four weeks.^[21] The song ranked fifty-eighth on the 2002 year-end chart.^[22] On January 13, 2002, the song became Aaliyah's only number one hit in the United Kingdom, selling 32,081 copies for that week. It became the first time in UK chart history that a posthumous release had taken over from another posthumous release when the song was replaced by George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord", and the first time that a woman had a posthumous number one single. All together, the single has sold 347,563 copies in the United Kingdom. The song reached the top twenty in Ireland and Switzerland.

• "I Refuse", the fourth single (France only), was released as a double A-side single along with "More Than a Woman". "I Refuse" was a moderate hit, peaking in at 12 it's first week in the top 30 in France.

• "I Care 4 U", the fifth single (US only), was released on Mother's Day 2002. It managed to reach number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number three on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[23] Although the single was only released in the U.S., the song achieved minor airplay on R&B stations in Europe.

Other charted songs

• "I Can Be" charted at #102 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart without promotion alongside has reached over 2 million views on YouTube.

Reception

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
The A.V. Club	(favorable)[24]
Entertainment Weekly	(B+)[25]
Los Angeles Times	[26]
NME	(7/10)[27]
Q	[7]
Rolling Stone	[28]
Slant Magazine	[6]
Spin	(8/10)[29]
Yahoo! Music	(favorable)[30]

The album received generally positive reviews from music critics.^[7] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76 based on 14 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".^[7] Rolling Stone's Ernest Hardy described it as a "near-flawless declaration of strength and independence" and noted Janet Jackson and Alanis Morissette as musical influences on the album.^[28] Chicago Tribune writer Brad Cawn called it "cool and glittery neo-soul music, equal parts attitude and harmony, and all urban music perfection".^[4] Simon Price of The Independent complimented Timbaland's production and stated "In many ways, this album is the true successor to Destiny's Child's Writing on the Wall (rather than their own Survivor); so much so, in fact, that you could choose to hear it as an 'answer record'. Further evidence that black pop is the avant garde".^[31] Jam! writer Darryl Sterdan commended Timbaland's "kinetic, high-tech slap 'n' bump soul-hop grooves" and called the songs "immaculately produced".^[5] The A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin noted that the album "feels surprisingly cohesive" and viewed that it establishes Aaliyah as "a major artist in her own right".^[24] Joshua Clover of Spin stated "Deeper than anything she's delivered before, Aaliyah's a hard record; almost never does a song roll over and beg to be loved".^[29] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani wrote that it "provides a missing link between hip-hop and electronica" and found Aaliyah's metaphors "more fully-developed and far sexier".^[6]

Craig Seymour of Entertainment Weekly gave Aaliyah a B+, saying it "creates a largely, up-tempo thrillingly melodramatic set" that "takes a melancholy—at times sinister—view of matters of the heart".^[25] However, Seymour also stated that Aaliyah "missteps when she tries to stretch outside of her musical comfort zones", specifically mentioning the Latin pop "Read Between the Lines" and the nu metal "What If".^[25] Similarly, some critics have dismissed "What If" as being too technical, calling it the R&B version of King Crimson.^[32] Los Angeles Times writer Connie Johnson perceived a lack of songwriting depth, stating "everything is light, pleasing and image-conscious, but lacking the personal revelation that gives music some immediacy".^[26] John Mulvey of NME gave the album a 7/10 rating and called it a "tasteful album fails to transcend 'satisfying'".^[27] Yahoo! Music's Dan Leroy noted that its "mature, midtempo funk can't quite keep down Aaliyah's still-kittenish vocals".^[30] In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave Aaliyah a rating of () honorable mention,^[33] indicating "an enjoyable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well treasure".^[34] Time magazine named Aaliyah one of the ten best albums of 2001. The magazine wrote of the album, "A siren of subtlety, never wailing when a whisper would do, Aaliyah blended genres with alluring ease. For her, hip-hop/soul and muted alternative rock came together as easily as lovers interlocking fingers. A plane crash claimed Aaliyah's life in August, but on her last CD her soul is forever in flight."

In a retrospective review, Allmusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called it one of the "strongest urban soul records of its time".^[3] Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone gave the album 4 out of 5 stars in its 2004 The Rolling Stone Album Guide publication and viewed it as significant to her legacy, stating "Aaliyah had grown from studio puppet to a powerful R&B archetype—a more self-aware Ronnie Spector for a time that requires more self-awareness of its young adults. Sure, Timbaland sculpted her sound throughout, but Aaliyah imprinted herself upon those beats—as a catalyst, she's equaled only by Missy Elliot herself".^[35]

Commercial performance

Aaliyah entered the US Billboard 200 and the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums at number two, with 190,000 copies sold in the first week.^[36] Within 5 weeks of the album release it was certified Gold for sales/shipments 500,000 copies in the United States.^[37] In the week of her death (seventh week) the album rose to number one on the Billboard 200 and two on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with 337,073 copies sold and more than 1,000,000 shipments in the total. As a percentage of sales increased 800%, making the biggest increase in sales in history.^[38][39][40] The album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of 2,000,000 copies in the US.^[39] It also became the third album from Aaliyah to receive the award of multi-platinum.^[39] The album has sold more 2.95 million copies in the US.^{[41][42][43][44][45][46]} The album spent 188 weeks on the Billboard 200, making it one of the longest stays in the Billboard 200 albums chart. The record has since been surpassed by Taylor Swift, whose self-titled first album stayed for 189 weeks.^[47][48] Physical copies of the album are out of print in the United States, but there have been rumors that the album is scheduled for a special edition tenth anniversary re-release in 2011. It is available for download in iTunes.

The album debuted at number two on the charts worldwide, with more than 330,000 copies sold. In the week of her death the album rose from number 25 to number 1, with more than 888,000 copies sold.^[39][41][42] Until the release of I Care 4 U (December 2002), the album had sold in excess of 9 million copies worldwide.^[39][41][42] As of December 2008, the album sold more than 13 million copies worldwide (12 million physical copies and 1 million downloads via the Internet). The album is Aaliyah's highest-selling in the world.^{[43][44][45][46][49][50]}

Track listing

U.S. Special Edition bonus DVD

1. Aaliyah introduction
2. "One in a Million" (video)
3. "Are You That Somebody?" (video)
4. "Try Again" (video)
5. "We Need a Resolution" (video)
6. Behind the Scenes

Re-release

In 2004, a special edition called "Aaliyah: Edition 2004" was released in Germany. It featured a slightly altered cover, replacing the red background with brown or gold, and the liner notes were in sepia rather than in color. Its track listing added "Try Again" and three bonus tracks.^[51] In 2005, the same version was released in Japan under the title "Aaliyah: Limited Edition" and kept the red cover.^[52] In 2007, it was released again in Germany with a white cover instead of red or gold, and it also dropped the "2004 Edition" subtitle. It will be released again in 2011 as new editions.^[53]

15. "Try Again" (Tim Mosley, Steve "Static" Garrett) — 4:44
16. "Miss You" (Johnta Austin, Teddy Bishop, Ginuwine) — 4:05
17. "Don't Know What to Tell Ya" (Salah El Sharnobi, Omar Batiesha, Tim Mosley, Steve "Static" Garrett) — 5:02
18. "Erica Kane" (Stephen Garrett, Eric L. Seats, Rapture D. Stewart) — 4:39

Leftover tracks

• "CEO"^[12] (Demo Sung by Static)²
• "Danc'n"^[12][54] (featuring Selfish and Digital Black)²
• "Don’t Know What to Tell Ya"^[12]3
• "Erica Kane"^[12]3
• "Girlfriends" (featuring Yaushameen Michael)¹
• "Giving Up"⁶
• "Questions"²
• "Steady Ground"^[12](featuring Static of Playa)¹
• "Time"⁵
• "True Entertainer"^[12]2
• "Where Could He Be?" (featuring Missy Elliott and Tweet)⁴

Credits and personnel

• Stevie Blacke – strings
• Ron Blake – horn
• Sean Cruse – guitar
• Paulinho da Costa – percussion

Production

• Executive producers: Aaliyah, Barry Hankerson
• Engineers: Michael Conrader, Jimmy Douglass, Rockstar, Scott Wolfe
• Assistant engineers: Chandler Bridges, Tim Olmstead, Steve Penny
• Mixing: Bud'da, Jimmy Douglass, Ben Garrison, Timbaland, Scott Wolfe
• Mastering: Bernie Grundman
• A&R: Gemma Corfield
• Photography: Jonathan Mannion, Albert Watson
• Labels: Blackground Records and Virgin Records
• Aaliyah's manager: Barry Hankerson for Aaliyah Entertainment (AE)

Charts and certifications

Chart positions Chart (2001) Peak position Year-end 2001 Year-end 2002 Australian Albums Chart[55][56] 2 10[57]  — Austrian Albums Chart[58] 21  —  — Belgium Albums Chart[59] 11  —  — Canadian Albums Chart[58] 6  —  — Danish Albums Chart[60] 34  —  — European Top 100 Albums[56] 1  —  — Finnish Albums Chart[58] 33  —  — French Albums Chart[58] 9  —  — German Albums Chart[58] 9  —  — Italy Albums Chart[58] 14  —  — Netherlands Albums Chart[58] 9  —  — New Zealand Albums Chart[58] 25  —  — Norwegian Albums Chart[61] 30  —  — Swedish Albums Chart[58] 23  —  — Swiss Albums Chart[58] 6 10[58] 6[58] UK Albums Chart[62] 5  —  — US Billboard 200[63] 1 4[64] 57[65] US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[63] 2 2[64] 15[65] US Top Internet Albums[66] 2  —  — End of decade charts End of decade chart Position Billboard 200 181[67] Swiss 100 6[68] Belgium 100 100[69] French 150 76[70] UK 200 98[71]

Certifications Territory Certifier Certification Australia ARIA 3x Platinum[72] Belgium Ultratop 2xPlatinum[73] Brazil ABPD Gold[74] Canada CRIA Platinum[75] Denmark IFPI 2xPlatinum[76] Europe IFPI 2x Platinum[76][77] Finland CAPIF Platinum[78] France SNEP 3x Platinum[79] Germany IFPI Gold[80] Japan RIAJ 2x Platinum[81][81] New Zealand RIANZ Gold[82] Switzerland IFPI 9xPlatinum[83] United States RIAA 2× Platinum[84] United Kingdom BPI Platinum[85] Sales Country Sales USA (Nielsen SoundScan) 2,600,000[45] USA (BMG Music Clubs [2001-2003]) 350,000[44] USA (Total Sales) 2,950,000[44][45] UK 516,180[44][45] Europe 2,000,000[44][45] Latin America 1,610,000[44][45] Canada (BMG Music Clubs [2001-2003]) 162,000[44] Canada 100,000[44][45] Canada (Total Sales) 262,000[44][45] Germany 150,000[86] World 13,000,000[50]

Awards

The album received numerous nominations and awards, mostly contributing to the single "More Than a Woman". The album also received three Grammy Award nominations, including Best R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Rock the Boat" and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "More Than a Woman".

Grammy Awards 2002, Best R&B Album: Aaliyah; Nominated 2002, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: "Rock The Boat"; Nominated 2003, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: "More Than A Woman"; Nominated MTV Video Music Awards 2002, Best R&B Video: "Rock The Boat"; Nominated MOBO Awards 2002, Best Video: "More Than a Woman"; Winner 2002, Best Dance Video: "More Than a Woman"; Winner BET Awards 2002, Video of The Year: "Rock The Boat"; Nominated Soul Train Awards 2002, Female R&B/Soul Single: "Rock The Boat"; Winner 2002, Best R&B/Soul Solo Single: "Rock the Boat"; Winner 2002, Best R&B/Soul or Rap Song of the Year: "Rock the Boat"; Winner

American Music Awards 2002, Favorite R&B/Soul Album: Aaliyah; Winner New Musical Express, UK (NME) 2002, Record of The Year: "More Than a Woman"; Winner International Dance Music Awards, World 2002, Record Of The Year "More Than a Woman"; Winner Rolling Stone (Title) 2001, Best R&B Album, Aaliyah for "Aaliyah"

Release history

2001

List of release dates with formats

Region	Date[14]	Format
Philippines	June 15, 2001	Standard edition
Germany	June 18, 2001	Standard edition
Denmark	June 19, 2001	Standard edition
South Africa
Japan	July 7, 2001	Standard edition
Australia	July 16, 2001	Standard edition, Bonus track edition
Austria
Finland
Netherlands
Hong Kong
India
Indonesia
Italy
Maylasia
Norway
Singapore
Taiwan
Canada	July 17, 2001	Standard edition
France
United States
South Korea	July 19, 2001	Standard edition, Bonus track edition
United Kingdom	July 21, 2001	Standard edition, Bonus track edition
New Zealand	July 23, 2001	Standard edition, Bonus track edition
Thailand
Brazil	July 27, 2001	Standard edition, Bonus track edition, DVD edition
Canada
Sweden
Switzerland
United States
Turkey	August 6, 2001	Standard edition, Bonus track edition, DVD edition
Germany	August 21, 2001	Standard edition, Bonus track edition, DVD edition
Denmark	August 25, 2001	Standard edition, Bonus track edition, DVD edition
South Africa

2002–2009

List of release dates with formats

Region	Date[14]	Format
Worldwide	August 25, 2002	Standard edition, Bonus track edition, DVD edition, CD-ROM
France	March 16, 2004	Aaliyah 2004: Standard edition, Bonus track edition, DVD edition, CD-ROM
Germany
United Kingdom
Japan	January 16, 2005	Aaliyah: Platinum edition: Standard edition, Bonus track edition, DVD edition, CD-ROM
Australia	July 17, 2006	Aaliyah: 5 years: Standard edition, Bonus track edition, DVD edition, CD-ROM
Europe
Latin America
Oceania
USA	April 26, 2009	iTunes: Standard edition (download)
USA	June 23, 2009	Amazon :Standard edition (download)

References

External links

• Aaliyah at Metacritic

Preceded by Now by Maxwell

Billboard 200 number-one album September 15, 2001 – September 21, 2001

Succeeded by Toxicity by System of a Down

Aaliyah Discography Songs Awards and nominations Studio albums Age Ain't Nothing but a Number One in a Million Aaliyah Compilation albums I Care 4 U Ultimate Aaliyah Singles "Back & Forth" "At Your Best (You Are Love)" "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" "Down with the Clique" "The Thing I Like" "Are You Ready?" "If Your Girl Only Knew" "Got to Give It Up" "One in a Million" "4 Page Letter" "Hot like Fire" "The One I Gave My Heart To" "Journey to the Past" "Are You That Somebody?" "I Don't Wanna" "Try Again" "Come Back in One Piece" "We Need a Resolution" "Rock the Boat" "More than a Woman" "I Refuse" "I Care 4 U" "Miss You" "Don't Know What to Tell Ya" "Come Over" "Are You Feelin' Me?" Other songs "Where Could He Be?" Filmography Romeo Must Die (2000) Queen of the Damned (2002) Related topics I Care 4 U (DVD) Blackground Records Book:Aaliyah Category:Aaliyah Portal:R&B and Soul Music