Back on August 25, 2001, DJ Chairman Mao spun enough old school hip-hop jams and Prince songs to keep everyone at APT smiling. Hanging out with a crew of music industry folks at that Meatpacking District bar, there was little room for dancing; folks seemed content with their cocktails and chatter. I don’t recall the exact time, but somewhere around 11:00, people started looking at a news blast on their Blackberries. “Oh my God,” a female friend mumbled, her eyes beginning to tear. “It says here that Aaliyah died in a plane crash.”

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