Timbaland’s double-time beats were heard in Something For The People’s “My Love is the Shhhh,” Jerkins, who became known as Darkchild, was able to build on his signature, slickly produced sound with Mary J. “If Your Girl Only Knew” and the title track were number one R&B smashes, while “The One I Gave My Heart To” cracked the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.Īside from the chart and airplay success, the sound of the album inspired so many other producers and artists. The impact of One In A Million was immediate and long lasting. The minimalism of Aaliyah’s breathy refrains of “love me, baby, love me, baby,” the wall of vocals on Elliott’s instantly unforgettable chorus, with the ferocious double-time kick drum patterns topped by tightly swirling snares, was a sound rarely heard before. Later she would droop her hair over one eye, relying on mystique and mystery to draw fans nearer.

She was now donning leather crop tops and wearing more makeup while keeping her signature sunglasses. Transitioning out of the baggy, sagging jeans and bandanas of her debut album, Aaliyah was forging a new image - a more clever blending of hip-hop edge and femininity. The way Timbaland uses phone tones and static as instrumental elements over his scattershot drums signaled a new dawn in R&B and pop production.įans got their first glimpse of the new Aaliyah with the lead single, “If Your Girl Only Knew,” a Missy/Timbaland production that went #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts, ultimately selling over 600,000 singles. The influence of Timbaland’s drum programming and quirky, futuristic arrangements can hardly be traced back to another era or genre.įrom the intro, “Beats 4 Da Streets,” where Missy calls out Aaliyah’s name telling her to wake up, you realize it’s the sign that she’s ready to break away from the confines of trending R&B to a new paradigm.

It is safe to say that the two are among the last true originals is Black music. A post shared by Aaliyah Haughton approach to producing and songwriting was unlike anything before it.

Aaliyah 1 in a million pictures