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

Music commentary news.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Mmm. Today's topic the Aliah effect. Hill hoop, minor key,

(00:24):
you pup, you pomp. You see it all the time,
the same snapshots of baby girl, all Leah, the same clips,
the same sounds, and we spin them, don't we. We

(00:47):
gotta we spin them to keep the flame burning, to
keep that legacy alive and kicking. But here's the real
scoop the gas. It's the stories that fuel the fire.
Every fan, every kid who ever got a picture with her,

(01:11):
has a story, a true story, a thought and 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 our Leah came on the

(01:36):
scene with those crazy beats from Timbling 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

(01:59):
man and 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

(02:20):
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,

(02:44):
Well knock it off. We only needed one Whitney. Alia
was something else, something new, something futuristic. She was cutting edge.
She was making it with the voice, the one we
all loved. She was mysterious. She didn't have time to

(03:08):
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

(03:28):
pictures spinning. But let's start sharing the stories too. That's
how we keep her with us. This is Gail Nobles
Podcasts sounding off and remember, keep spinning the platters that matter.

(03:48):
Thank you for listening to The Princess of R and
B podcast All about Ah Leah