Dear Aaliyah,

It has been 8 years since you have left and I have made it a point to (try) dedicate a post to you every year. Be it on your birthday or on your passing. Aaliyah, your music inspired me to be as crazy into music as I am today. When you first came out with Age Ain't Nothing But A Number, I loved every single song on it. It was the first time that I realized I could become invested in an artist. When you disappeared between Age Aint Nothing But A Number and One in a Million, I panicked and read every music mag I could in order to find news on you. It was then that I started becoming music business savvy. And in true law of attraction fashion, I attracted many people in my life involved in and around music (or music school lol).

When One in a Million came out, I was floored at how different your music was. Actually, I was a bit confused because it sounded like nothing I had heard before. Sure, there was different music everywhere and I wasn't blind to it...but not in r&b. Not in pop and not in hip hop. Then came my interest in shiny pants from Tommy Hilfiger and my eyewear fetish lol. I even got the Yoji Yamamoto sunglasses you wore in If Your Girl Only Knew. I still have them to this day.

Somewhere between your first 2 albums, I became a dancer (was in a few dance groups and an urban dance company) and used One In A Million in one of my high school productions. The dance group I was in at the time did the song justice and I felt so good for being able to share my talent and love of your music. You released 6 singles from that album, sold 8 million world wide and proved that you were not the one hit wonder people predicted you to be.

By the time your 3rd album, Aaliyah, came out, you starred in Romeo Must Die, won an MTV VMA for Try Again, completed Queen of the Damned and were filming your parts in The Matrix. I was SO happy for you! I not only watched and invested in your growth, but I grew with you. We were the same age and our birthdays are a month apart. We both shared a connection to Sade (and I recently realized that you both share the same bday) and it seemed like the world was finally paying attention to all of your hard work.

However, on Aug 25, 2001, you got on that plane and never made it out alive.

I cried sincere tears for you and myself. I was going thru some young love shit at the time and this was the last thing I needed. But you know, everything happens for a reason and although I would love to have you here for the world to enjoy, you left a lasting impression on music (and me) and I could honestly not ask for anything more. You help put the wheels in motion and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, Aaliyah...you are apart of the soundtrack of my life and nothing can change that.

May you be resting in peace somewhere along with Biggie and Lefteye.

Missing you,

Mike Milan

Another Happy Belated Birthday...

..to Aaliyah Dana Haughton. Born January 16, 1979.



She would have been 27 this year but instead she is timeless.

The song titles "One In A Million" and "More Then A Woman" couldn't describe her any better. It always takes an artist like Aaliyah to start a new sound for a genre of music. Never was she a huge star like Beyonce or Britney Spears, but she helped change the sound of R&B before they came out. One In A Million marked the explosian of double beats in R&B music that had some radio DJ's scratching their heads with the fact that they had a hot track....but didn't know how to mix it in with the "other" music they had. Good music always prevails one way or another and tracks like "4 Page Letter," "Hot Like Fire" and of course "One In A Million" changed the direction of black music forever. How did this happen? This was the official unveiling of Timbaland and Missy's off the hook sound (that everybody wanted AFTERwards).

While first getting their feet wet with Jodeci, the duo created a different sound that landed in Aaliyah's lap. Had it been another R&B star this might not have happened. However she wanted a change from her first album and took a chance. That chance paid off and One In A Million is a bonafide classic and must have for your R&B collection. She was on her way to being a big star but unfortunately she passed away and left many of us with feelings of "what could have happened next?" But for me what was supposed to happen already happened. Anybody can be a big star with the right gimmick or right talent at the right time....but can we all change something as big as music?

Thank you Aaliyah for taking a chance.