So I listened to this shit for the first time today.....

Okay, I swear it was something Tom Hanks cooked up while dancing on that giant keyboard in Big back in '88. Why bother hiring a producer?

Now as for Cassie, girlfriend was hyped as having a voice. But she winds up sounding like an overprocessed Ashanti clone. There is no emotion there. It's a robot talking about how she wants to fuck you. She just blends into the background and leaves no impression. She is the wallpaper in my dentist's bathroom.

I sure as fuck do miss Aaliyah, because maybe we wouldn't have all these no-singing, no-charisma one-name "sexy" broads that are being foisted on us - Cassie, Rihanna, Ciara, I'm looking at you. You are all the same person. The Raelians were successful.
[Edited 7/25/06 19:15pm]

Yeah, Sad.

The lyrics are sad:

I know them other guys, they been talking bout the way I do what I do
They heard I was good, they wanna see if it's true
They know you're the one I wanna give it to
I can see you want me too
Now, it's me and you

Boring video. The girl can't dance, all she does is pose in the video. What more can you expect from a former Delia*s catalog model?

Also, there is an article in this months Vibe about her in the NEXT section. She goes on about how people kept on suggesting that she should transition from modeling to singing.

This is some romantic shit! I'm a whore and all the guys can smell me 10 blocks away, but tonight this pussy's YOURS and they all be jealous! And she's all of what, 17?

lyecry said:

This is some romantic shit! I'm a whore and all the guys can smell me 10 blocks away, but tonight this pussy's YOURS and they all be jealous! And she's all of what, 17?

VoicesCarry said:

CinisterCee said:

I tell ya, 4 Page Letter seems so damn long ago. Am I just getting old?

I tell ya, 4 Page Letter seems so damn long ago. Am I just getting old?

VoicesCarry said:

I don't have anything against Aaliyah at all, but she was pretty much fruit from the same tree.

Has everyone seen the other version of her music video yet? That innocent act isn't going to play with the original video floating around. Looks like it was made for BET Uncut.

Listen to the track, though. The original has much more punch to it than the Sleptunes' version
[Edited 7/26/06 1:04am]

VoicesCarry said:

Yeah, Sad.

The lyrics are sad:

I know them other guys, they been talking bout the way I do what I do
They heard I was good, they wanna see if it's true
They know you're the one I wanna give it to
I can see you want me too
Now, it's me and you


Boring video. The girl can't dance, all she does is pose in the video. What more can you expect from a former Delia*s catalog model?

Also, there is an article in this months Vibe about her in the NEXT section. She goes on about how people kept on suggesting that she should transition from modeling to singing.

I beg to differ. I know I've said this dozens of times before, but not only was she practically the first artist to present the Timbaland sound of the '90s to radio (not to mention that album itself is loaded with maturity beyond her years, gorgeous songs and equally gorgeous vocals atop them, and svelte old-school sensibilities), but take another listen to her eponymous album from 2001 and tell me if Cassie, Ciara, Rihanna, Amerie, Beyonce, and allll the rest of 'em have made an album at this point that matches the creativity and class of it.

Aaliyah was always way ahead of the pack.

squiddyren said:

Practically everything you've stated above is subjective and could be parroted by fans of the other girls you've mentioned in your post.

My point was that Aaliyah, like many of those girls, was the musical product of a producer (R. Kelly, Timbaland). She had an average voice. She could dance a little. She had the whole light-skinned, long hair thing going that seems to be a requirement for that class of performer nowadays. She certainly relied, and I won't say heavily per se, on sex appeal.

In fact, these lyrics from her debut album ('I'm Down')...

"Boy there's no need to look no further
Cause everything you want is right here
And I don't mind giving you what you want
Just as long as you stay near me"

...aren't too far off the mark from what was posted above. And wasn't she, also, like 15 or 16 at the time? I just don't see where there's a chasm of difference between her and the others.

Okay, now you're tripping. Aalyiah was never marketed as a sex object. Of course she was a pretty CARMEL-COLORED girl (not really "light-skinned) so they would use her looks to help sell her image as is done with 98.5 percent of the artists on the market. She did not rely "heavily" on sex appeal. Her last CD was miles ahead of her contemporaries at the time in terms of structure and maturity. Its obvious that Timbaland was saving some of his better tracks for Aalyiah. She had a pleasant voice. She wasn't an "extreme" vocalist. Most of her songs were uptempo & mid-tempo jams to dance at the club to. The charm that you are failing to see that so many others have was that Aaliyah was a relatively "safe" artist. She was stylish and fairly graceful and not slutting herself out ala Britney Spears "f**k-me-before-daddy-gets-home" miniskirts and such. She was starting to act more and was basically being groomed to be a media darling. They've been trying to make another Aalyiah ever since she passed and have pretty much failed. The closet that's come to her is Amerie but she's not acting yet and doesn't have the presence Aaliyah had. Aalyiah had mastered being subtle and yet still sexy. Oh, and she could dance more than "a little". If Aalyiah wasn't a good dancer, what female artist do you think is?

No, you're tripping. Check again. I said I wouldn't say she relied heavily on sex appeal.

As far as her dancing and voice go, most of what I saw from Aaliyah was choreographed. As it tends to be with the majority of artists like her. But it's not like she was gonna make you forget about Janet or anything. Her voice, I still maintain, was average at best. She could carry a tune, but if you're talking about sangin'? There are about 40 dozen other names that come to mind before Aaliyah.

Again, I'm not pegging her as a slut. But she's got much more in common with the girls listed above than say India Arie or Jill Scott or Erykah Badu.

Oops. Sorry, I misread.
I agree that she wouldn't be the first name to come up as far as vocals go but she was a contemporary R&B artist as opposed to India or Eryka, who are neo-soul artists and geared to a different market. She couldn't outsing them but she could outdance all of them put together. Her name would come up if one were discussing a "total package" artist in a boardroom with a bunch of execs when the $$$ are dropping. She was the "triple threat" that so many are aiming for right now. The singer/actress/dancer package that labels are forever searching for. Her market competition was Brandy, Monica, Mya, etc. at the time. Others had an edge on her vocally but her only competition dancing was Mya and just barely. Aside from Aalyiah, only Brandy had acting experience of the bunch. Its clear where she was headed. Beyonce is there right now, doing it all wrong but maintaining.

Could her vocals be any more autotuned?

violator said:

No, you're tripping. Check again. I said I wouldn't say she relied heavily on sex appeal.

As far as her dancing and voice go, most of what I saw from Aaliyah was choreographed. As it tends to be with the majority of artists like her. But it's not like she was gonna make you forget about Janet or anything. Her voice, I still maintain, was average at best. She could carry a tune, but if you're talking about sangin'? There are about 40 dozen other names that come to mind before Aaliyah.

Again, I'm not pegging her as a slut. But she's got much more in common with the girls listed above than say India Arie or Jill Scott or Erykah Badu.

Aaliyah could sing, and quite well. Especially compared with the shit that's out there today. They didn't need ProTools for Aaliyah.

VoicesCarry said:

Her performance on "I Care 4 U" is gorgeous.

squiddyren said:

http://www.youtube.com/wa...yah%20Live

http://www.youtube.com/wa...yah%20Live
[Edited 7/26/06 21:21pm]