This is an Aaliyah appreciation post…
I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I got the news that Aaliyah Dana Haughton died in a plane crash leaving the Bahamas after shooting the remaining scenes of her “Rock the Boat” video from her junior self-titled album. I was in Club 124 in Starkville, Mississippi. It was my sophomore year and my girl Amber and I were partying our butts off. I remember being hot and sweaty because the club was packed wall to wall. Then the DJ announced it over the speaker an everything went silent for what seemed like forever.
It was likely on a few minutes but for me, a real Aaliyah fan, it felt like an eternity. My heart stopped and my sweat turned to tears. See before there was a solo Beyoncé, there was Aaliyah. We had rocked ”Back and Forth” wondered ”If your girl only knew” and questioned ”are you that somebody“ with her. For me, a young songstress in the works destined for Hollywood she was going to be one of my first collabs. Kind of like Brandy and Monica on the “Boy is Mine” I had already penned a song for us to sing and top the charts. Was I delusional…maybe? But Aaliyah for me represented that you could be a good girl in an industry that often is viewed as destroying you and leaving you to the wolves.
It’s hard to believe that 20 years have passed. Finally, her catalog is being released for streaming. Now, of course I own every Aaliyah but I own the cds and haven’t had a cd player in years. So there’s that. It felt good to download her music and rock to some of my faves again. It also reminded me of how we never got to see her fully become all that she was destined to be. I don’t usually write about celebrities but there are a handful that I hold tight to th chest. Aaliyah, Biggie, and Prince are just a few who are extremely special to me but are no longer with us.
I hope she knew she was adored and that there were a lot of true and die hard fans that still rock with her. I still remember all of the choreography from each of her videos. Maybe I will teach the Glittergang and we can do it on their Tiktok.
That’s it! That’s all I have.
XOXO,
MichelleRena
Love this!