Aaliyah Effect-Hip Hop Minor Key 11:12:25 5.30 PM

Story by: Gail Nobles
Cover Illus. by: Gail Nobles
Music Intro & Voices by: Gail Nobles

You see it all the time, the same snapshots of the baby girl, Aaliyah. The same clips, the same sounds. And we spin 'em, don't we? We gotta! We spin 'em to keep the flame burning, to keep that legacy alive and kicking.

But here's the real scoop, the real gas: it's the *stories* that fuel the fire. Every fan, every kid who ever got a picture with her, has a story. A true story! A thought. An opinion. *That's* the new stuff. That's what keeps her music fresh in our hearts.

Now, let me lay my own opinion on you. To me, when Aaliyah came on the scene with those crazy beats from Timbaland and Missy, she made hip-hop... *clean*. She made it fun! It was music to bring people together—at the cookout, at the party, on the dance floor. The thought of shooting and killing? Man, that never entered the room to us. She was climbing to the top without all that mess, trying to do something good in music.

Was she perfect? Come on, now. She was a young girl, finding her way. I'm sure she made some wrong turns. But if you really listened, if you *knew* her through her music, you knew her heart. Her voice told love stories.

Now I hear some jokers in the back alley saying, "Ah, she couldn't sing like Whitney." Well, knock it off! We only needed one Whitney. Aaliyah was something else—something new, something futuristic. She was cutting-edge! She was making it with *that* voice, the one we all loved. She was mysterious, she didn't have time to show us everything, and maybe some folks didn't deserve to see it.

But she showed us enough. She brought a new sound, a new style, a new feeling. And that, my friends, is the real story.

So let's keep the pictures spinning, but let's start sharing the stories, too. That's how we keep her with us.

This is Gail Nobles, podcast sounding off, and remember... keep spinning the platters that matter. Thank you for listening to the Princess of R&B podcast all about Aaliyah

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