WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.600 You know, there's a specific kind of immortality 00:00:02.600 --> 00:00:05.280 in the music industry that that goes beyond just 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:07.559 selling records. It's about capturing a moment 00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:10.380 in time so perfectly that you become the definition 00:00:10.380 --> 00:00:13.019 of that era. Right. But then there's a level 00:00:13.019 --> 00:00:15.800 above that. There are the artists who don't just 00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:17.719 reflect their time. They actively reconstruct 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:20.399 it. They change the sonic frequency of the culture. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:22.839 And they usually do it by taking risks that. 00:00:24.250 --> 00:00:26.489 seem insane to everyone else in the room at the 00:00:26.489 --> 00:00:28.969 time? Precisely. Today we are talking about a 00:00:28.969 --> 00:00:31.250 name that, if you were alive in the 90s, evokes 00:00:31.250 --> 00:00:34.490 a very specific feeling. It's a mix of mystery, 00:00:34.789 --> 00:00:37.549 effortless cool, and a sound that was somehow 00:00:37.549 --> 00:00:41.170 both retro and futuristic. All at once. We are 00:00:41.170 --> 00:00:44.070 talking about Aaliyah Dana Houghton. To the world, 00:00:44.210 --> 00:00:47.670 she was just Aaliyah. The princess of R &B. The 00:00:47.670 --> 00:00:51.509 queen of urban pop. Yeah. Titles that she earned, 00:00:51.670 --> 00:00:53.969 solidified, and defended before she was even 00:00:53.969 --> 00:00:56.310 legally allowed to rent a car in the United States. 00:00:56.409 --> 00:00:58.890 It's incredible. And the name itself, Aaliyah, 00:00:58.890 --> 00:01:00.770 it's heavy. It comes from the Arabic, meaning 00:01:00.770 --> 00:01:03.590 the highest, most exalted one, the best. That 00:01:03.590 --> 00:01:05.469 is a lot of pressure to put on a kid from Detroit. 00:01:05.909 --> 00:01:08.370 Here you go, sweetie. Your name means the best. 00:01:08.450 --> 00:01:11.519 Good luck at kindergarten. It is. It really is. 00:01:11.620 --> 00:01:13.560 But what's fascinating and what we're going to 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:15.280 see in the biographical records we're diving 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:17.780 into today is that she didn't shrink from it. 00:01:17.859 --> 00:01:20.659 No. She leaned into it. She treated that name 00:01:20.659 --> 00:01:23.459 like a mission statement. And that's the premise 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:26.640 of today's deep dive. We have a massive stack 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:29.640 of sources here. We're looking at archival interviews, 00:01:30.140 --> 00:01:33.299 studio logs from the Timbaland sessions, court 00:01:33.299 --> 00:01:36.459 documents regarding her estate, and the very 00:01:36.459 --> 00:01:40.200 technical, very sobering NTSB reports on the 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:42.819 crash that took her life. A lot to get through. 00:01:42.939 --> 00:01:45.319 A lot. Our mission is to understand how a young 00:01:45.319 --> 00:01:47.780 girl essentially engineered the sound of modern 00:01:47.780 --> 00:01:50.879 pop, navigated some incredibly dark controversies, 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:53.900 and left a legacy that is arguably stronger today. 00:01:54.379 --> 00:01:56.819 than when she was alive. And we have to do this 00:01:56.819 --> 00:01:59.260 while acknowledging that her career was frighteningly 00:01:59.260 --> 00:02:01.319 short. I mean, we're talking about a 10 -year 00:02:01.319 --> 00:02:04.060 span. Years. From signing a deal at 12 to passing 00:02:04.060 --> 00:02:07.560 away at 22. It's a blip in time, but the density 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:09.620 of what she accomplished in that decade is just 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:12.419 staggering. So let's rewind the tape. Because 00:02:12.419 --> 00:02:15.680 Aaliyah wasn't an overnight success in the way 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:18.159 we think of viral stars today. Not at all. She 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:21.469 was grinding from the time she could walk. Absolutely. 00:02:21.710 --> 00:02:25.469 She was born in Brooklyn in 1979, but the family, 00:02:25.550 --> 00:02:28.689 they relocated to Detroit when she was five. 00:02:29.009 --> 00:02:31.610 And that Detroit upbringing is crucial. Right. 00:02:31.710 --> 00:02:34.069 Because Detroit has a very specific musical work 00:02:34.069 --> 00:02:37.150 ethic. It's the home of Motown. Perfectionism 00:02:37.150 --> 00:02:39.569 is in the water there. And she had that perfectionism. 00:02:39.590 --> 00:02:41.710 We found records of her performing at everything 00:02:41.710 --> 00:02:44.770 she could. Book weddings, church choirs, charity 00:02:44.770 --> 00:02:47.050 benefits. She was constantly working. But there 00:02:47.050 --> 00:02:49.270 was a specific catalyst, right? A moment where 00:02:49.270 --> 00:02:51.949 it went from cute hobby to career path. First 00:02:51.949 --> 00:02:55.469 grade. Gizu Elementary School. She was cast in 00:02:55.469 --> 00:02:57.849 the stage play of Annie. The orphan who captures 00:02:57.849 --> 00:03:01.650 the billionaire's heart. Classic. Classic. But 00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:04.469 for Aaliyah, it wasn't just a play. She spoke 00:03:04.469 --> 00:03:06.449 about this later, being on that stage, feeling 00:03:06.449 --> 00:03:08.990 the audience, the lights. It triggered something. 00:03:09.150 --> 00:03:11.349 She realized that the stage was where she felt 00:03:11.349 --> 00:03:13.189 most comfortable. It wasn't about attention. 00:03:13.430 --> 00:03:15.889 It was about expression. And she took that energy 00:03:15.889 --> 00:03:18.750 straight to the biggest arena available for a 00:03:18.750 --> 00:03:21.810 kid in the late 80s and early 90s. Star Search. 00:03:22.110 --> 00:03:25.189 Of course. The American Idol of its day. She 00:03:25.189 --> 00:03:28.110 was 10 years old. And I want to pause on her 00:03:28.110 --> 00:03:32.129 song choice here because... It reveals so much 00:03:32.129 --> 00:03:34.669 about her musical instincts, even at that age. 00:03:34.830 --> 00:03:36.870 What does she sing? She didn't pick a nursery 00:03:36.870 --> 00:03:39.669 rhyme or a current pop hit. She chose My Funny 00:03:39.669 --> 00:03:43.650 Valentine. Wow. A jazz standard. That is a complex 00:03:43.650 --> 00:03:46.009 song. It requires phrasing, emotional depth, 00:03:46.250 --> 00:03:48.310 breath control. Most adults struggle with that 00:03:48.310 --> 00:03:51.069 song. Exactly. It showed she was listening to 00:03:51.069 --> 00:03:53.330 the greats. She was studying the craft, not just 00:03:53.330 --> 00:03:56.430 the charts. But here is the pivotal moment of 00:03:56.430 --> 00:04:00.300 her origin story. She lost. She didn't win. She 00:04:00.300 --> 00:04:02.520 lost. And for a lot of child prodigies, that 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:04.840 is the breaking point. I'm sure. You're the best 00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:06.599 singer in your church, the best in your school, 00:04:06.699 --> 00:04:08.960 and then you get on national TV and someone tells 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:12.020 you, no, that can crush a kid's ego. But for 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:14.060 her, it seemed to work the opposite way. It wasn't 00:04:14.060 --> 00:04:16.839 a stop sign. It was a speed bump. It was fuel. 00:04:17.290 --> 00:04:19.529 It taught her that talent isn't enough. You need 00:04:19.529 --> 00:04:21.829 resilience. And she carried that lesson into 00:04:21.829 --> 00:04:23.610 her education. This is one of my favorite parts 00:04:23.610 --> 00:04:25.889 of her profile. The school thing. Yeah. While 00:04:25.889 --> 00:04:28.230 she was becoming a global superstar, she was 00:04:28.230 --> 00:04:30.189 attending the Detroit High School for the Fine 00:04:30.189 --> 00:04:32.269 and Performing Arts. And she wasn't just showing 00:04:32.269 --> 00:04:36.170 up to sign autographs in the cafeteria. No. She 00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:38.810 was a serious student. She graduated with a 4 00:04:38.810 --> 00:04:42.560 .0 GPA. A 4 .0? We're talking about a teenager 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:45.519 who would go record a music video, fly back to 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:47.720 Detroit and sit in a classroom to take a history 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:50.899 test. That level of discipline is wild. Most 00:04:50.899 --> 00:04:53.660 high schoolers can barely manage a 4 .0 without 00:04:53.660 --> 00:04:56.360 a recording contract. She was incredibly pragmatic. 00:04:57.079 --> 00:04:59.279 She actually said in interviews that she kept 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:02.639 her education up because she viewed it as a fallback 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:06.000 plan. A fallback. Yeah. She loved history. She 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:08.180 said if the music thing fizzled out, she wanted 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:10.939 to teach music history or drama. Imagine walking 00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:13.620 into your music history 101 class and Professor 00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:16.579 Aaliyah is standing at the chalkboard. It speaks 00:05:16.579 --> 00:05:19.959 to her groundedness. She never assumed fame was 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:23.420 permanent. But we also have to be real about 00:05:23.420 --> 00:05:25.810 how she got her foot in the door. Right. Hard 00:05:25.810 --> 00:05:29.189 work is one thing, but access is another. And 00:05:29.189 --> 00:05:31.629 Aaliyah had access. The family connection. We 00:05:31.629 --> 00:05:33.689 have to talk about the uncle. Barry Hankerson. 00:05:33.850 --> 00:05:36.230 He was a major entertainment lawyer in Detroit. 00:05:36.310 --> 00:05:39.769 He knew everybody. And, crucially, he was married 00:05:39.769 --> 00:05:42.490 to Gladys Knight. Having Gladys Knight as an 00:05:42.490 --> 00:05:45.189 aunt by marriage, I mean, that is quite the mentorship 00:05:45.189 --> 00:05:47.850 program. It's the ultimate apprenticeship. Aaliyah 00:05:47.850 --> 00:05:50.029 was performing on stage with Gladys Knight in 00:05:50.029 --> 00:05:52.970 Las Vegas at age 11. 11. She was watching how 00:05:52.970 --> 00:05:55.610 a legend managed to crowd, how she handled the 00:05:55.610 --> 00:05:58.930 band, how she preserved her voice. That is an 00:05:58.930 --> 00:06:01.379 education you cannot buy at Berklee. And didn't 00:06:01.379 --> 00:06:03.360 Tupac, who was just blowing up at the time, see 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.180 her perform? He did. He saw her with Gladys and 00:06:06.180 --> 00:06:08.300 was reportedly mesmerized. He wanted to sign 00:06:08.300 --> 00:06:11.079 her. Wow. But Barry Hankerson kept it in the 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:13.720 family. He signed her to his own label, Blackground 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:16.040 Records, and secured a distribution deal with 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:20.319 Jive Records. She was 12 years old. 12. So the 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:23.240 machinery is in place. The talent is there. The 00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:26.399 deal is signed. And this leads us directly into 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:29.439 her debut era and inevitably into the darkest 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:31.920 and most controversial chapter of her life. It 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:35.920 does. Barry Hankerson introduced his niece to 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:38.819 the man who would define her first album, R. 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:41.819 Kelly. Who became her mentor, lead songwriter, 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:44.540 and producer. For age... ain't nothing but a 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:46.920 number okay so before we get into the controversy 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:49.459 we need to look at the music because strictly 00:06:49.459 --> 00:06:52.240 from a sonic perspective this album was a hit 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:54.860 it was huge it sold 3 million copies in the u 00:06:54.860 --> 00:06:58.660 .s the sound was distinct alia described it as 00:06:58.660 --> 00:07:01.939 street but sweet street but sweet i like that 00:07:01.939 --> 00:07:04.300 here you had r kelly's production which was heavily 00:07:04.300 --> 00:07:07.000 influenced by new jack swing that bouncy, rhythmic, 00:07:07.259 --> 00:07:10.060 hip -hop adjacent soul. And then he had Aaliyah's 00:07:10.060 --> 00:07:11.879 voice. Which was so different from the other 00:07:11.879 --> 00:07:13.839 divas of the time. You know, she wasn't trying 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:15.660 to out -sing Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey. 00:07:15.660 --> 00:07:18.279 She had this silky falsetto range. She sang with 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:21.579 a certain coolness. Back and forth and at your 00:07:21.579 --> 00:07:24.459 best, you are love. Which was an Isley Brothers 00:07:24.459 --> 00:07:26.680 cover, showed she could handle both the club 00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:29.800 tracks and the ballads. So she had range. Instantly 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:33.000 a star. But we cannot and should not separate 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:35.959 this art from the context of its creation. We 00:07:35.959 --> 00:07:38.120 have to talk about the marriage scandal. And 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:39.939 I want to be very careful to stick to the facts 00:07:39.939 --> 00:07:41.680 we have in the sources because this story has 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:44.160 been mythologized in so many ways. The facts 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:47.000 are damning enough without mythology. In 1994, 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:50.300 rumors began to circulate that Aaliyah and R. 00:07:50.300 --> 00:07:54.279 Kelly had secretly married. Context. She is 15. 00:07:54.500 --> 00:07:58.019 He is 27. A massive power imbalance. A massive 00:07:58.019 --> 00:08:00.600 age gap. And initially... They both denied it. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:02.899 Of course. But Vibe magazine, which was doing 00:08:02.899 --> 00:08:05.620 incredible journalism at the time, dug up the 00:08:05.620 --> 00:08:07.660 actual marriage certificate. And this document, 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:10.560 it's a piece of evidence of a crime, really. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:13.019 It is. The certificate is dated August 31st, 00:08:13.019 --> 00:08:15.899 1994. It lists the location as a Sheraton Hotel 00:08:15.899 --> 00:08:18.699 in Rosemont, Illinois. And critically, it lists 00:08:18.699 --> 00:08:21.879 Aaliyah's age as 18. Which was a lie. A falsification. 00:08:22.220 --> 00:08:24.579 A felony. And the sources, they indicate that 00:08:24.579 --> 00:08:26.860 this wasn't just a secret romance. This was likely 00:08:26.860 --> 00:08:28.680 a maneuver to protect Kelly legally. How so? 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:31.060 If they were married, she couldn't be compelled 00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:33.620 to testify against him regarding sexual relations 00:08:33.620 --> 00:08:36.039 with a minor. It was a strategic move by the 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:37.820 adults in the room. And the adults eventually 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:40.200 stepped in. Her parents found out. They were 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:43.279 furious. They had the marriage annulled in February 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:47.220 1995. And the aftermath of this is where we see 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:49.759 Aaliyah's strength, but also the cruelty of the 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:51.679 industry. She cut him off completely. Completely. 00:08:52.100 --> 00:08:54.600 Severed all ties. Professionally and personally. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:57.580 And she adopted a policy of absolute silence. 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:01.340 She would not speak his name in interviews. If 00:09:01.340 --> 00:09:04.600 a journalist asked, she gave a firm frosty no. 00:09:04.820 --> 00:09:06.960 And I think for a long time people interpreted 00:09:06.960 --> 00:09:10.679 that silence as... What, complicity? Or maybe 00:09:10.679 --> 00:09:12.899 just confusion? But looking back, it feels like 00:09:12.899 --> 00:09:15.580 survival. It was survival. Damon Dash, who dated 00:09:15.580 --> 00:09:17.460 her years later, said she told him Kelly was 00:09:17.460 --> 00:09:20.399 a bad man, but that she was physically traumatized 00:09:20.399 --> 00:09:22.820 by even discussing it. She walled it off. And 00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:24.919 the industry, they didn't exactly rally around 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:27.639 her, did they? No. And this is the part that 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:29.740 really makes you question the morals of the music 00:09:29.740 --> 00:09:32.100 business in the 90s. While R. Kelly's career 00:09:32.100 --> 00:09:35.039 continued to skyrocket, I mean, he was winning 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:38.950 Grammys, writing I Believe I Can Fly. Aaliyah 00:09:38.950 --> 00:09:41.190 was the one who was stigmatized. Her cousin, 00:09:41.370 --> 00:09:45.009 Jomo Hankerson, used the word villainized. Exactly. 00:09:45.149 --> 00:09:48.110 She was the victim, yet she was viewed as damaged 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:52.169 goods or too controversial. That's insane. When 00:09:52.169 --> 00:09:54.269 it came time to record her second album, they 00:09:54.269 --> 00:09:56.149 actually struggled to find high -profile producers 00:09:56.149 --> 00:09:58.690 who wanted to work with her. They were afraid 00:09:58.690 --> 00:10:01.570 of the baggage. So here she is. She's 16, 17 00:10:01.570 --> 00:10:04.190 years old. She's leaving Jive Records, moving 00:10:04.190 --> 00:10:06.629 to Atlantic. She has a platinum album, but she's 00:10:06.629 --> 00:10:09.409 essentially an outcast in her own industry. She 00:10:09.409 --> 00:10:11.509 needs a new sound. Yeah. She needs to prove she 00:10:11.509 --> 00:10:13.990 isn't just an R. Kelly creation. This is the 00:10:13.990 --> 00:10:15.990 pivot point. This is where the Aaliyah we know 00:10:15.990 --> 00:10:18.970 today is truly born. Yes. She needed collaborators 00:10:18.970 --> 00:10:20.730 who didn't care about the industry politics. 00:10:20.870 --> 00:10:23.870 And she found two people who were essentially 00:10:23.870 --> 00:10:26.629 weirdos in the best possible way. Timbaland and 00:10:26.629 --> 00:10:29.480 Missy Elliott. The dream team. But at the time, 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:32.039 they weren't legends. They were kids from Virginia 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:34.559 who were making music that nobody else understood. 00:10:34.860 --> 00:10:37.179 That's right. And I read that Missy was actually 00:10:37.179 --> 00:10:39.639 terrified to meet Aaliyah. Terrified? Why? She 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:42.240 was. Missy and Timbaland were unproven. Aaliyah 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:44.970 was a star. Missy thought Aaliyah would be a 00:10:44.970 --> 00:10:47.049 diva, that she'd be difficult. Oh, okay. But 00:10:47.049 --> 00:10:49.649 she said Aaliyah walked in, was incredibly warm, 00:10:49.769 --> 00:10:52.470 and treated them like family immediately. That 00:10:52.470 --> 00:10:55.149 trust allowed them to experiment. And experiment 00:10:55.149 --> 00:10:58.730 is the right word. Because we need to pause here 00:10:58.730 --> 00:11:01.610 and really look at the sonic landscape of 1996. 00:11:02.169 --> 00:11:03.909 Okay. Because if you were listening to the radio 00:11:03.909 --> 00:11:06.309 then, you were hearing a lot of post -New Jack 00:11:06.309 --> 00:11:09.769 Swing. You had Mariah Carey, Boyce II. It was 00:11:09.769 --> 00:11:12.929 very polished, very melodic, very structured. 00:11:12.970 --> 00:11:15.730 It was safe. It was the era of the power ballad. 00:11:15.730 --> 00:11:17.850 Right. And then you have Aaliyah, Timbaland, 00:11:17.889 --> 00:11:19.789 and Missy. And frankly, what they were doing 00:11:19.789 --> 00:11:21.789 in the studio sounded like mistakes to everyone 00:11:21.789 --> 00:11:23.769 else. It really did. I was looking at the production 00:11:23.769 --> 00:11:26.470 notes for One in a Million, and Timbaland wasn't 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:28.970 using the standard R &B drum kits. He was using 00:11:28.970 --> 00:11:32.230 the Korg Trinity workstation, and he was programming 00:11:32.230 --> 00:11:34.809 these double -time hi -hats that were frantic. 00:11:34.809 --> 00:11:37.850 They were jittery. That's the key word. Jittery. 00:11:38.570 --> 00:11:41.049 In music theory, we talk about quantization making 00:11:41.049 --> 00:11:44.009 the beat land perfectly on the grid. Right, locking 00:11:44.009 --> 00:11:46.769 it in. Timbaland intentionally played off the 00:11:46.769 --> 00:11:49.570 grid. He added this swing that made the drums 00:11:49.570 --> 00:11:51.149 feel like they were tripping over themselves. 00:11:51.169 --> 00:11:53.690 It created this tension. And usually when a producer 00:11:53.690 --> 00:11:57.529 hands a singer a track that chaotic, think about 00:11:57.529 --> 00:12:00.830 the beat for Hot Like Fire or If Your Girl Only 00:12:00.830 --> 00:12:03.580 Knew. Yeah. The singer tries to combat it. Yeah. 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:06.220 Try to belt over it to assert dominance. They 00:12:06.220 --> 00:12:08.600 try to flatten the track with power vocals. Exactly. 00:12:08.600 --> 00:12:11.879 The instinct is to scream to be heard. But Aaliyah 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:14.039 did the inverse. And this is the genius of what 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:16.000 people call the Aaliyah blueprint. What did she 00:12:16.000 --> 00:12:18.779 do? She dropped her register. She went into this 00:12:18.779 --> 00:12:22.000 lower breathy falsetto. She wasn't fighting the 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.240 beat. She was weaving through the negative space. 00:12:24.500 --> 00:12:27.259 It's almost like ASMR before ASMR was a thing. 00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:29.700 That's a brilliant way to put it. It was intimate. 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:32.539 She forced the listener to lean in. So by singing 00:12:32.539 --> 00:12:35.860 softer. By engaging in that specific vocal restraint, 00:12:36.039 --> 00:12:39.320 she made Timbaland's aggressive, futuristic production 00:12:39.320 --> 00:12:43.000 sound sophisticated rather than just noisy. It 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:45.879 turned the tomboy aesthetic into a sound. And 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:48.220 speaking of the tomboy aesthetic, we have to 00:12:48.220 --> 00:12:51.379 discuss the look. because the sound and the visual 00:12:51.379 --> 00:12:54.100 were perfectly synced. It was iconic. The baggy 00:12:54.100 --> 00:12:56.500 pants, the oversized jackets, the dark sunglasses, 00:12:56.840 --> 00:12:59.500 the hair swooping over one eye. Which she said 00:12:59.500 --> 00:13:01.720 was inspired by the old Hollywood actress Veronica 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:05.039 Lake. Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Yeah. It was 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:07.799 this mix of street toughness and classic glamour. 00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:10.279 And the Tommy Hilfiger campaign, that was a cultural 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:13.120 reset. Massive. She became the face of Tommy 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:15.679 jeans. There was this specific campaign where 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:18.120 she wore these baggy red, white, and blue jeans 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:21.320 with a band. I remember that image. It was everywhere. 00:13:21.620 --> 00:13:24.860 And it translated to sales. The company sold 00:13:24.860 --> 00:13:27.659 over 2 ,400 pairs of those specific jeans almost 00:13:27.659 --> 00:13:30.019 immediately. Wow. It proved that Aaliyah wasn't 00:13:30.019 --> 00:13:32.460 just a singer. She was a trendsetter. She made 00:13:32.460 --> 00:13:34.840 cool marketable. She bridged the gap between 00:13:34.840 --> 00:13:37.330 the mall and the street. And as she grew up, 00:13:37.330 --> 00:13:40.809 she navigated the transition from tomboy to woman 00:13:40.809 --> 00:13:43.690 very carefully. She did. She controlled the narrative. 00:13:43.850 --> 00:13:46.450 By the time we get to the late 90s, she's showing 00:13:46.450 --> 00:13:49.250 a bit more skin. The midriffs are out. But she 00:13:49.250 --> 00:13:51.870 always maintained what she called classy boundaries. 00:13:52.169 --> 00:13:55.110 Right. She wasn't letting the industry over -sexualize 00:13:55.110 --> 00:13:57.669 her. She was defining her own sexuality. So she 00:13:57.669 --> 00:14:00.419 conquers music. She conquers fashion. The next 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:03.179 frontier was obviously Hollywood. And usually 00:14:03.179 --> 00:14:06.200 when singers try to act, well, it can be painful. 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:08.940 It can be. Yeah. But Aaliyah had that drama background 00:14:08.940 --> 00:14:11.799 from high school. She took it seriously. And 00:14:11.799 --> 00:14:14.179 she landed a major role right out of the gate. 00:14:14.659 --> 00:14:18.029 Romeo Must Die in 2000. a martial arts adaptation 00:14:18.029 --> 00:14:20.389 of Romeo and Juliet opposite Jet Li. It was a 00:14:20.389 --> 00:14:22.690 huge commercial success. It debuted at number 00:14:22.690 --> 00:14:24.970 two at the box office. And while the critics 00:14:24.970 --> 00:14:27.629 were a bit mixed on the romantic chemistry with 00:14:27.629 --> 00:14:30.870 Jet Li, some felt it was a bit chaste. Everyone 00:14:30.870 --> 00:14:34.019 agreed on one thing. The camera loved her. She 00:14:34.019 --> 00:14:36.500 had presence. She didn't look like a singer trying 00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:38.759 to act. She looked like a movie star. But for 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:41.539 me, the real triumph of Romeo Must Die wasn't 00:14:41.539 --> 00:14:44.159 even the acting. It was the soundtrack. She executive 00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:46.519 produced it. And it gave us the song Try Again. 00:14:46.799 --> 00:14:48.779 Which is a historic track. We have to explain 00:14:48.779 --> 00:14:51.240 why. Because the music industry rules were different 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:54.139 back then. Right. In 2000, for a song to chart 00:14:54.139 --> 00:14:56.620 on the Billboard Hot 100, you usually had to 00:14:56.620 --> 00:14:58.820 have a physical single available for people to 00:14:58.820 --> 00:15:02.129 buy in stores. Sales drove the chart. Exactly. 00:15:02.610 --> 00:15:05.970 But Try Again was so dominant on the radio, people 00:15:05.970 --> 00:15:08.509 were calling stations nonstop to request it, 00:15:08.529 --> 00:15:10.769 that it became the first song in history to reach 00:15:10.769 --> 00:15:14.029 number one on the Billboard Hot 100, based solely 00:15:14.029 --> 00:15:16.889 on radio airplay. That is sheer demand. That 00:15:16.889 --> 00:15:19.350 is the public saying, we need this song. And 00:15:19.350 --> 00:15:22.049 the video. We have to shout out Fatima Robinson, 00:15:22.190 --> 00:15:24.389 the choreographer. Of course. The video for Try 00:15:24.389 --> 00:15:27.590 Again with the mirrored room, the intricate hand 00:15:27.590 --> 00:15:30.850 movements. It won the MTV Awards for Best Female 00:15:30.850 --> 00:15:33.889 Video and Best Video from a Film. It raised the 00:15:33.889 --> 00:15:36.409 bar for what a dance video could look like. So 00:15:36.409 --> 00:15:39.350 at this point, we are in the year 2000, 2001. 00:15:40.029 --> 00:15:43.830 Aaliyah is 21, 22 years old. She is on top of 00:15:43.830 --> 00:15:46.519 the world. And her schedule, I mean, looking 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:48.480 at her calendar from that year gives me anxiety. 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:51.019 It was relentless. She's becoming a franchise 00:15:51.019 --> 00:15:53.659 actress. She had filmed Queen of the Damned, 00:15:53.659 --> 00:15:56.759 playing the vampire queen. She got a cult classic 00:15:56.759 --> 00:16:00.360 role. She played this ancient, powerful, manipulative 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:03.440 vampire. And she was cast in the Matrix sequels. 00:16:03.440 --> 00:16:05.919 This is the what if that always haunts fans. 00:16:06.220 --> 00:16:08.600 She was supposed to be Z. She was cast as Z. 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:10.960 She had already filmed scenes for The Matrix 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:12.799 Reloaded. Really? They were actually available 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:15.519 on some of the DVD extras. Seeing her in that 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:19.460 universe made so much sense. She fit that cyberpunk 00:16:19.460 --> 00:16:22.179 aesthetic perfectly. And amid all this filming 00:16:22.179 --> 00:16:24.200 spending months in Australia, she was recording 00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:26.940 her third album. The self -titled album, Aaliyah, 00:16:27.019 --> 00:16:29.299 often called the Red Album. And because of the 00:16:29.299 --> 00:16:31.519 film schedule, there had been a five -year gap 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:34.080 since One in a Million. That's a lifetime in 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:36.659 pop music. It is, but she used that time to grow. 00:16:37.230 --> 00:16:39.690 The album was recorded in studios in Australia 00:16:39.690 --> 00:16:42.629 while she was shooting Queen of the Damned. So 00:16:42.629 --> 00:16:44.970 she's playing a vampire by day and recording 00:16:44.970 --> 00:16:48.350 these dark, edgy R &B tracks by night. You can 00:16:48.350 --> 00:16:51.110 hear that influence. The album is moodier. It's 00:16:51.110 --> 00:16:53.889 more complex. It's a statement of maturity. Songs 00:16:53.889 --> 00:16:56.419 like We Need a Resolution. That's not a standard 00:16:56.419 --> 00:16:58.139 love song. It's about communication breakdown, 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:00.799 about anxiety. And musically, she was exploring 00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.259 her range. There's a great story from producer 00:17:03.259 --> 00:17:05.799 Daryl Simmons about this era. He was working 00:17:05.799 --> 00:17:07.920 with her on a track, and he walked in while she 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:11.079 was warming up. Yes. He caught her doing opera 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:15.299 scales. Full soprano, powerful projection. Opera. 00:17:15.500 --> 00:17:18.339 Opera. He was shocked. He asked her, why don't 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:20.019 you sing like that on the records? And what did 00:17:20.019 --> 00:17:22.059 she say? And she basically said she liked the 00:17:22.059 --> 00:17:24.279 chill, laid -back vibe, but she could do it. 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:27.359 On the self -titled album, especially on tracks 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:30.160 like I Refuse, you start to hear her unleash 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:33.099 that power. She was done whispering. The album 00:17:33.099 --> 00:17:35.740 was released in July 2001. It debuted at number 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:39.440 two. The reviews were glowing. Critics called 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:42.140 it an artistic leap forward. Everything was aligning. 00:17:42.259 --> 00:17:44.140 Everything was perfect. And that brings us to 00:17:44.140 --> 00:17:48.099 August. August 25, 2001. The day everything changed. 00:17:48.650 --> 00:17:51.150 Let's walk through the context of that day. Because 00:17:51.150 --> 00:17:52.829 when you look at the details in the investigation 00:17:52.829 --> 00:17:56.809 reports, it's not just a freak accident. It feels 00:17:56.809 --> 00:17:59.710 like a cascade of small decisions and systemic 00:17:59.710 --> 00:18:02.650 failures that led to a catastrophe. It does. 00:18:03.130 --> 00:18:05.769 Aaliyah and her team were in the Bahamas at the 00:18:05.769 --> 00:18:08.029 Marsh Harbor Airport in the Abaco Islands. They 00:18:08.029 --> 00:18:10.410 had been there filming the music video for Rock 00:18:10.410 --> 00:18:13.710 the Boat. Which is a beautiful, sunny, aquatic 00:18:13.710 --> 00:18:16.809 video. They had finished filming a day ahead 00:18:16.809 --> 00:18:19.380 of schedule. And naturally, after days of work 00:18:19.380 --> 00:18:21.559 in the sun, the group was eager to get back to 00:18:21.559 --> 00:18:23.759 the U .S., back to Miami. They had a flight scheduled 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:25.680 for the next day on a larger plane, right? Correct. 00:18:25.740 --> 00:18:27.240 But they didn't want to wait. They wanted to 00:18:27.240 --> 00:18:29.200 leave immediately. So they chartered a flight 00:18:29.200 --> 00:18:31.259 right then and there. And the plane they secured, 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:34.660 it wasn't the Cessna 404 they arrived in. No. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.799 It was a Cessna 402B, a smaller twin -engine 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:40.539 light aircraft. And this is where the physics 00:18:40.539 --> 00:18:43.019 of the tragedy begin. They tried to fit the entire 00:18:43.019 --> 00:18:46.450 party. Aaliyah, plus eight others, and all their 00:18:46.450 --> 00:18:48.849 equipment onto this smaller plane. The passengers 00:18:48.849 --> 00:18:51.769 included her hairstylist, Eric Foreman, makeup 00:18:51.769 --> 00:18:54.069 artist Christopher Maldonado, security guard 00:18:54.069 --> 00:18:56.750 Scott Gallin, family friend Keith Wallace, and 00:18:56.750 --> 00:19:00.549 record execs. Plus, heavy camera equipment, luggage, 00:19:00.789 --> 00:19:03.569 costumes. And the investigation into the crash. 00:19:04.029 --> 00:19:07.430 This brings us to the NTSB and the AAIB reports. 00:19:07.589 --> 00:19:10.069 And I want to be specific here because overloaded 00:19:10.069 --> 00:19:12.789 is a generic term. It is, yeah. When you look 00:19:12.789 --> 00:19:15.849 at the Cessna 402 manifest for that flight, the 00:19:15.849 --> 00:19:18.210 issue wasn't just the total weight, though being 00:19:18.210 --> 00:19:20.990 700 pounds over maximum takeoff weight is suicidal 00:19:20.990 --> 00:19:23.710 physics. It was the center of gravity, or CG. 00:19:23.990 --> 00:19:27.049 Exactly. In aviation, balance is just as important 00:19:27.049 --> 00:19:29.750 as weight. The report indicates the passengers 00:19:29.750 --> 00:19:31.690 and the heaviest cargo were loaded toward the 00:19:31.690 --> 00:19:33.309 back of the plane. So, too much weight in the 00:19:33.309 --> 00:19:35.839 tail. In aerodynamics, if your center of gravity 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:38.559 shifts too far aft towards the tail, the plane 00:19:38.559 --> 00:19:40.940 becomes unstable in pitch. Basically, the tail 00:19:40.940 --> 00:19:43.079 is too heavy, so the nose wants to point up. 00:19:43.420 --> 00:19:46.400 Precisely. So picture the takeoff roll. They 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:48.640 are accelerating down the runway at Marsh Harbor. 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:51.339 The pilot pulls back on the yoke. The plane lifts 00:19:51.339 --> 00:19:54.960 off. But because the CG is so far back, the nose 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:57.619 pitches up aggressively, much higher than a normal 00:19:57.619 --> 00:19:59.839 climb angle. And when the nose goes up that high, 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:02.500 the wings lose lift. It's called an aerodynamic 00:20:02.500 --> 00:20:05.509 stall. The wings are no longer generating enough 00:20:05.509 --> 00:20:08.769 lift to counteract gravity. The airflow separates 00:20:08.769 --> 00:20:11.190 from the wing. The aircraft essentially becomes 00:20:11.190 --> 00:20:14.190 a falling object. Oh, my God. Witnesses described 00:20:14.190 --> 00:20:16.210 the plane hanging in the air for a second, banking 00:20:16.210 --> 00:20:18.829 hard to the left, and then nosediving into the 00:20:18.829 --> 00:20:21.730 scrub just 200 feet from the runway. It barely 00:20:21.730 --> 00:20:23.950 made it off the ground. Everyone on board was 00:20:23.950 --> 00:20:26.589 killed. The coroner's report noted that Aaliyah 00:20:26.589 --> 00:20:28.710 suffered severe burns and a blow to the head. 00:20:29.369 --> 00:20:31.950 It stated that even if she had survived the initial 00:20:31.950 --> 00:20:35.049 impact, her injuries were non -survivable. It's 00:20:35.049 --> 00:20:37.930 a terrifying sequence. And what makes it so infuriating 00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:40.210 to read in the report is that this wasn't an 00:20:40.210 --> 00:20:42.490 accident in the sense of a mechanical failure. 00:20:42.589 --> 00:20:44.730 This was a mathematical certainty before they 00:20:44.730 --> 00:20:47.450 even started the engines. It was a chain of negligence. 00:20:47.750 --> 00:20:50.069 And we have to talk about the pilot, Luis Morales 00:20:50.069 --> 00:20:52.930 III. Because the deeper you dig into his background, 00:20:53.029 --> 00:20:55.269 the more shocking it gets. This wasn't just a 00:20:55.269 --> 00:20:57.589 guy who made a bad calculation. He wasn't even 00:20:57.589 --> 00:20:59.869 supposed to be flying, was he? No. He was not 00:20:59.869 --> 00:21:02.869 approved by the FAA to fly that specific aircraft 00:21:02.869 --> 00:21:05.369 for that operator, Blackhawk International Airways. 00:21:05.490 --> 00:21:09.089 He had forged his flight lugs to show hundreds 00:21:09.089 --> 00:21:11.829 of hours of experience he didn't have just to 00:21:11.829 --> 00:21:14.529 get the job. And the toxicology report. Traces 00:21:14.529 --> 00:21:16.829 of cocaine and alcohol were found in his system. 00:21:16.910 --> 00:21:19.869 It's devastating. You have a pilot who is unqualified. 00:21:21.609 --> 00:21:24.690 And there was pressure. Witnesses on the tarmac 00:21:24.690 --> 00:21:27.549 reported hearing an argument. The pilot reportedly 00:21:27.549 --> 00:21:29.589 warned the group that there was too much weight. 00:21:29.710 --> 00:21:32.549 He knew it was unsafe. But he gave in. He gave 00:21:32.549 --> 00:21:35.269 in, and that dynamic, the pressure to get the 00:21:35.269 --> 00:21:38.430 client home, the fear of saying no to a celebrity 00:21:38.430 --> 00:21:40.670 entourage combined with his own incompetence, 00:21:40.670 --> 00:21:42.950 led to the crash. It's a loss that didn't have 00:21:42.950 --> 00:21:45.009 to happen. That's what makes it sting so much, 00:21:45.009 --> 00:21:47.809 even all these years later. It does. And the 00:21:47.809 --> 00:21:51.609 reaction was immediate and massive. Her funeral 00:21:51.609 --> 00:21:54.930 in Manhattan saw a procession with 800 mourners. 00:21:55.569 --> 00:22:00.259 They released 22 white doves. One for each year 00:22:00.259 --> 00:22:02.880 of her life. 22 dubs. It really puts how young 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:05.900 she was into perspective. It does. And her brother 00:22:05.900 --> 00:22:08.599 Rashad gave the eulogy. It was a moment where 00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:11.599 the entire music industry stopped. But as we've 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:14.859 seen with other icons like Selena or Tupac, death 00:22:14.859 --> 00:22:17.359 wasn't the end of her impact. In fact, in some 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:19.859 ways, her legacy exploded right after. It did. 00:22:19.960 --> 00:22:22.630 The self -titled album Aaliyah. shot to number 00:22:22.630 --> 00:22:25.390 one on the billboard 200 shortly after the crash 00:22:25.390 --> 00:22:27.930 and the video they died filming rock the boat 00:22:27.930 --> 00:22:30.789 it premiered on bits access granted it became 00:22:30.789 --> 00:22:32.730 the highest rated episode in the show's history 00:22:32.730 --> 00:22:34.990 wow watching it was almost a religious experience 00:22:34.990 --> 00:22:37.849 for fans seeing her look so happy so vibrant 00:22:37.849 --> 00:22:40.369 knowing it was the last footage ever taken and 00:22:40.369 --> 00:22:42.789 over in the uk she made history too she became 00:22:42.789 --> 00:22:45.269 the first deceased female artist to reach number 00:22:45.269 --> 00:22:47.950 one on the uk singles chart with more than a 00:22:47.950 --> 00:22:51.440 woman And curiously, she replaced George Harrison 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:54.400 at number one Another Deceased Artist. It was 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:57.339 the first time in UK history a dead artist replaced 00:22:57.339 --> 00:23:00.579 another dead artist at the top spot. Then came 00:23:00.579 --> 00:23:03.700 the posthumous releases, I Care For You in 2002, 00:23:04.099 --> 00:23:07.319 which had unreleased tracks like Miss You. The 00:23:07.319 --> 00:23:09.859 Miss You video is still hard to watch. It featured 00:23:09.859 --> 00:23:14.319 Jay -Z, DMX, Missy Elliott, Queen Latifah. practically 00:23:14.319 --> 00:23:16.819 the whole industry lip -syncing her lyrics as 00:23:16.819 --> 00:23:19.279 a tribute. Oh, wow. It showed how deeply she 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:21.700 was loved by her peers. But her posthumous career 00:23:21.700 --> 00:23:24.480 hasn't been without its own controversies. We 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:26.680 have to talk about the unstoppable era and the 00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:28.859 messiness with the streaming services. Right. 00:23:28.940 --> 00:23:31.799 For a long time, over a decade, Aaliyah's music 00:23:31.799 --> 00:23:34.740 wasn't on Spotify or Apple Music. It was stuck 00:23:34.740 --> 00:23:37.859 in legal limbo between her uncle's label, Blackground, 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:40.380 and the distribution companies. Which was a tragedy 00:23:40.380 --> 00:23:42.380 because it meant an entire generation of kids 00:23:42.380 --> 00:23:45.039 Gen Z was growing up without easy access to her 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:47.140 sound. You couldn't just put one in a million 00:23:47.140 --> 00:23:49.400 on a playlist. Exactly. And then there was the 00:23:49.400 --> 00:23:52.039 attempt to make new music. In 2012, there were 00:23:52.039 --> 00:23:54.480 rumors of a posthumous album produced by Drake 00:23:54.480 --> 00:23:57.160 and his producer 40. They released a track called 00:23:57.160 --> 00:24:00.160 Enough Said. And the original team Timbaland 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:03.920 and Missy were not having it. Timbaland was very 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:07.319 vocal. He felt protective. He felt that Aaliyah's 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:09.559 music shouldn't be touched by people who didn't 00:24:09.559 --> 00:24:11.700 know her, who weren't family. I can understand 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.240 that. He later apologized for some of his harsher 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:16.559 comments, but it highlighted a real tension. 00:24:16.980 --> 00:24:21.259 Who owns a legacy? The estate. The fans. The 00:24:21.259 --> 00:24:24.299 new artists inspired by her. Eventually, in 2021, 00:24:24.700 --> 00:24:26.940 the catalog was finally re -released to streaming 00:24:26.940 --> 00:24:29.619 by Blackground Records. But even that was contentious. 00:24:30.099 --> 00:24:32.869 Aaliyah's estate. specifically her mother and 00:24:32.869 --> 00:24:35.609 brother, issued a statement denouncing the release 00:24:35.609 --> 00:24:38.950 as an unscrupulous endeavor done without transparency. 00:24:39.369 --> 00:24:41.630 So even when the fans finally got the music, 00:24:41.690 --> 00:24:45.869 it felt complicated. It was messy. But ultimately, 00:24:45.990 --> 00:24:48.390 the music spoke for itself. When the albums hit 00:24:48.390 --> 00:24:50.710 streaming, they re -entered the charts immediately. 00:24:51.029 --> 00:24:53.190 One in a million hit the top 10 on the Billboard 00:24:53.190 --> 00:24:55.950 200 for the first time, decades after its release. 00:24:56.309 --> 00:24:58.450 It proved the music wasn't just nostalgia, it 00:24:58.450 --> 00:25:01.579 was timeless. And that leads us to her influence 00:25:01.579 --> 00:25:04.039 today. We throw around the term blueprint earlier. 00:25:04.299 --> 00:25:07.099 Let's unpack that. What exactly is the Aaliyah 00:25:07.099 --> 00:25:08.960 blueprint? It goes back to that studio session 00:25:08.960 --> 00:25:11.539 with Timbaland. It's the juxtaposition of the 00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:14.500 soft and the hard. Okay. That sweet, angelic, 00:25:14.500 --> 00:25:17.359 restrained vocal over a hard, trap -influenced 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:21.279 or electronic beat. If you listen to modern R 00:25:21.279 --> 00:25:25.099 &B, Shani Aiko, H .E .R., S .C .A., Tinashe. 00:25:25.400 --> 00:25:27.920 They are all walking through a door Aaliyah opened. 00:25:28.140 --> 00:25:30.480 Even the guys. Drake is essentially the president 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:33.539 of the Aaliyah fan club. Drake has a giant tattoo 00:25:33.539 --> 00:25:36.720 of her face on his back. The Weeknd samples her. 00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:39.480 They credit her with inventing the vibey, moody 00:25:39.480 --> 00:25:42.079 R &B sound that dominates the charts today. And 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:44.059 it's not just R &B. I was reading about her influence 00:25:44.059 --> 00:25:46.869 on dubstep. Yes, because Timbaland's production 00:25:46.869 --> 00:25:49.490 on One in a Million was so bass -heavy and experimental, 00:25:49.890 --> 00:25:52.609 electronic producers view those tracks as foundational 00:25:52.609 --> 00:25:56.190 texts. She is an unlikely queen of the underground 00:25:56.190 --> 00:25:58.710 in the UK bass scene. And visually, I mean, you 00:25:58.710 --> 00:26:01.210 walk into a Forever 21 or an H &M today and you 00:26:01.210 --> 00:26:03.990 see the Aaliyah influence. The crop tops, the 00:26:03.990 --> 00:26:07.009 baggy pants, the exposed boxer briefs, that sporty, 00:26:07.089 --> 00:26:09.490 sexy look. It's everywhere. M .Key Cosmetics 00:26:09.490 --> 00:26:12.069 released an Aaliyah collection that sold out 00:26:12.069 --> 00:26:15.180 in minutes. Her silhouette is just as recognizable 00:26:15.180 --> 00:26:17.500 as her voice. It really is amazing. We're talking 00:26:17.500 --> 00:26:20.000 about someone who died in 2001, and yet she feels 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:23.079 incredibly present in 2026. That's the definition 00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:26.299 of an icon. She sold 32 million albums worldwide. 00:26:26.579 --> 00:26:29.359 She redefined the sound of a decade. She transitioned 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:31.839 to film, and she did it all before turning 23. 00:26:32.220 --> 00:26:34.539 It brings us back to that name, the highest, 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:37.940 most exalted one. She really did live up to it. 00:26:38.099 --> 00:26:40.779 She did, but she also left us with the biggest 00:26:40.779 --> 00:26:43.880 what if. in modern pop history that's the question 00:26:43.880 --> 00:26:46.579 that lingers in it if she had lived if she had 00:26:46.579 --> 00:26:48.819 been in the matrix if she had made that fourth 00:26:48.819 --> 00:26:51.339 and fifth album she was on a trajectory to be 00:26:51.339 --> 00:26:54.509 an ego t -level superstar I think about how the 00:26:54.509 --> 00:26:56.829 landscape of pop music would be different. Would 00:26:56.829 --> 00:26:59.710 Beyonce have had quite the same singular dominance 00:26:59.710 --> 00:27:01.829 if Aaliyah was there competing for those same 00:27:01.829 --> 00:27:04.809 hits? Would R &B have evolved differently? It's 00:27:04.809 --> 00:27:07.250 a provocative question, and one we'll never truly 00:27:07.250 --> 00:27:09.789 know the answer to. But what we do know is that 00:27:09.789 --> 00:27:12.029 the music she did leave us changed everything. 00:27:12.430 --> 00:27:14.730 Absolutely. And that is a legacy worth celebrating. 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:17.200 Well, that is all for this deep dive into the 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:19.900 life and legacy of Aliyah. We hope you learned 00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:21.980 something new about the woman behind the glasses. 00:27:22.220 --> 00:27:25.059 Always more to learn. Until next time. Take care.