Aaliyah by Aaliyah

Aaliyah is the self-titled third and final studio album by American R&B singer Aaliyah. It was released on July 7, 2001, by Blackground Records and Virgin Records America. Aaliyah started to work on the album in 1998, but rescheduled its recording around her developing film career. She resumed recording in 2000 at Sing Sing Studios in Australia, where she shot her role for the 2002 film Queen of the Damned during the day and recorded songs at night. Through her recording contract with Blackground, the singer worked primarily with the record label's in-house crew of writers and producers, including Bud'da, J. Dub, Rapture, and Eric Seats, as well as longtime collaborator Timbaland. Aaliyah is an R&B and neo soul record whose music draws from funk, hip hop, alternative rock, and electronica, among other styles. The producers incorporated synthesizer melodies, fragmented beats, distorted guitar, and eccentrically manipulated vocals and song structures. Much of Aaliyah dealt with the complexities of romantic love and different stages in a relationship. Most of the songs were written by lyricist Static Major, who shared a close friendship and strong rapport with Aaliyah. She viewed the album as a reflection of herself as both a young adult and a matured vocalist. Aaliyah received highly positive reviews from critics and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, but sold diminishingly afterwards. When Blackground and Virgin wanted a high charting single to increase the album's sales, Aaliyah shot a music video for the song "Rock the Boat" in the Bahamas, but died in a plane crash on a return flight to the United States on August 25. After her death, sales of the album skyrocketed and propelled it to number one on the Billboard 200. Aaliyah was released during a period of peak activity in contemporary R&B and, since its initial reception, has been cited by critics as one of the best R&B records of its time.