Tag Archives: aaliyah

REMEMBERING AALIYAH: RARE & UNRELEASED TRACKS

It’s been 10 years since Aaliyah died tragically in an airplane accident. Her third LP, Aaliyah, had just been out for 3 weeks and it was steadily pacing up the Billboard charts.

After her passing, a collection of Aaliyah’s greatest hits, as well as some previous recorded material were included on a compilation called I Care 4 U. To much delight, fans received the single, “I Miss You,” as well as tracks like, “Don’t Know What To Tell Ya,” where we heard Aaliyah’s soft tone on a classic Timbaland production and the slinky, sexy fan favorite, “Come Over.” But there are a couple of songs from Aaliyah’s catalog that don’t often get recognized.

Instead of posting the typical favorites from fans that follow the Concrete Loop Twitter page, we decided to shed some light on Aaliyah tracks that may have previously gone unnoticed or unheard. Check out these tracks.

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Posted in MUSIC Tagged

REMEMBERING AALIYAH: BRIAN’S FAVORITE TRACKS

Admittedly, back in the day, I was one of the biggest Aaliyah fans. You can ask anyone that knew me. I had posters on my wall, owned all of her albums– I was just a huge fan of hers. Partially, because I had an older sister (who was a teenager when I was just a kid) who introduced me to her music back in the ’90′s. I have fond memories of riding around in my sister’s old car with the Age Ain’t Nothin’ But A Number cassette tape.

In any event, I can gather a specific memory from each of Aaliyah’s albums. She was truly one of my favorites. So, I insisted to post some of my favorite tracks from Aaliyah’s albums. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed all of her music. But these are some of the favorites that just had a great impact on me.

Aaliyah – I Can Be (full) – listen
This was the Aaliyah I loved. This song was edgy and dark and as a complete music head, I appreciated the interpolation of the what sounds like Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” towards the end of the song. I felt like this was one of the most underrated tracks on her last studio album, Aaliyah, which dropped back in 2001. The track was written by singer/songwriter Tank and produced by Bud’da.

Aaliyah – Everything’s Gonna Be Alright (full) – listen
This song just made me feel like jamming back in 1996. Although most of this album, Aaliyah worked with Timbaland, this was a track produced by the famed Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins. My favorite part, specifically is at the end of the second verse, where she sings, “You can do this baby/With the L-I-Y-A-H…”

Aaliyah – Young Nation (full) – listen
“Young Nation” just reminds me of trying to kick with my sister and her friends, knowing I wasn’t grown enough to be chilling with them. Although Aaliyah’s first album was my least favorite of the three (I still love it though), it still makes me feel like summertime with jeeps. Continue

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‘ROUND THE WAY: TIMBALAND & MISSY ON WORKING W/ AALIYAH + CLIP OF UPCOMING AALIYAH SPECIAL ON BET

Although it feels like just yesterday, August 25th will mark the 10th year following the tragic passing of R&B singer Aaliyah. Check out this preview clip from Aaliyah: One In A Million, BET’s upcoming tribute to the late singer. In the video, Timbaland and Missy Elliott recall the very first time they learned that they would be working with Ms. Aaliyah Haughton after she heard and enjoyed a track demo made by them:

We did a record called “Sugar & Spice” that Timbaland and another young man took into Atlantic Records, and when they heard that record they liked the sound and it was something they had never heard before. So they said, ‘Let’s put you all in the studio with Aaliyah.’ And we were excited. [...] I gotta thank her [Aaliyah] because she heard the specialness in us. Continue

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‘ROUND THE WAY: “BEYONCE & AALIYAH WOULD BE NECK AND NECK,” SAYS GINUWINE + TANK SAYS “A FEW PEOPLE WOULDN’T HAVE CAREERS” IF SHE WERE ALIVE

In an interview with Boom Box, R&B singer GINUWINE shared his thoughts about singer Aaliyah Haughton, who tragically died in 2001. When asked what he thought about how her career would have been today, he stated that Beyoncé is the closest resemblance of how successful Aaliyah would have been:

“Aaliyah was in a class by herself. If you’re talking triple threat of a writer, singer and actress, that would probably be Beyonce. If Aaliyah were still here, she and Beyoncé would be neck and neck.”

Although other artists like Ciara have been compared to the late singer, Ginuwine made it clear that there’s nothing wrong with it and added:

“I think everyone should aspire to be someone great, and that was one of the greats. Aaliyah was one of the great ones.”

Tank would probably be in agreement with Ginuwine. We recently sat down with the singer/songwriter who worked closely with Aaliyah on her last two albums and he spoke candidly about her and her influence. Make sure to peep the video above.

What do you think about what Ginuwine & Tank said?

( SOURCES: Boombox.com/TheBestofWho.com // TANK VIDEO: TAJ WASHINGTON )
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