Today marks the fifteen year anniversary of the passing of one of hip hop and R&B's biggest talents, Aaliyah.
Born Aaliyah Dana Haughton in 1979, and it was clear she was talented from the start: by age 11 she was already performing as the opening act for soul legend Gladys Knight. By the time she was the age when most kids are busy with college, Aaliyah already had earned multiple platinum records, had appeared in multiple blockbuster movies, and was an accomplished model and fashion icon.
In her tragically short 22 years of life, Aaliyah sold millions of records and helped redefine modern pop music with her unique style that blended influences from pop, hip hop, R&B, and classic soul. Critics credit her with popularizing the unique, beat driven sound that defined R&B music of the late 90's and 2000's. Many of today's most successful musicians, including Drake, Beyonce, Rihanna, Adele, Omarion, the Arctic Monkeys, as well as countless others, have all claimed Aaliyah as a key influence. At the time of her death, Aaliyah was in pre-production on a new film, which was to be produced by fellow singing legend Whitney Houston, who was reportedly impressed with Aaliyah's myriad talents.
Aaliyah earned the respect of older music legends, was beloved by her peers, and is revered by an entire generation of musicians who came after her. While her death robbed the world of what could have been a decade spanning and genre defining career of music, Aaliyah still left us with an amazing catalog of music that is deserving of every single word of praise that has been spoken about it.
By Michael Lacerna for RAPstation.com
