‪‪Zendaya‬‬: The Best Songs Of Aaliyah

Babygirl.

In a time when female r’n’b singers were getting attention by being ultra sexist, Aaliyah stood above them all by being pure class and elegance.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, January 16 1979 of African and Oneidan royal heritage. Her name is derived from Arabic ‘Ali’ and Jewish name ‘Aliya’, which means in hebrew ‘highest, the most exalted one, the best’. She is certainly all that.

Her lyrical style is often described as ‘Street and Sweet’. This is something she herself said in her song ‘Back & Forth’ where she has a line describing herself “”I got jazz personality. G mentality!”. Her lyrical content was often dark, matters of the heart while the songs were uptempo as a contrast. Her legacy for the whole r’n’b and hiphop scene was that the scene was now ready for a more futuristic production style that started to emerge in the early 00’s.

Her death on August 25, 2001 was tragic and early. Aaliyah had thoughts a month before her death that something bad was about to happen to her. “Someone’s following me and I don’t know why. I’m scared. Then suddenly I lift off. Far away. As if I’m swimming in the air. Nobody can reach me. Nobody can touch me”.

You will be missed now and forever.

A small glimpse into a brilliant discography, enjoy.

1- Junior M.A.F.I.A feat. Lil’ Kim & Aaliyah - I Need You Tonight