Aaliyah (2001)

 

Aaliyah is the third and final studio album by American R&B singer Aaliyah. It was released on July 7, 2001, by Blackground Records and Virgin Records.^{[nb 1]} Because of its packaging design, it is also known as "The Red Album". 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. Additional recording took place at Manhattan Center and Sony Music Studios in New York and Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, among other locations. 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 described in critical commentaries as an album of R&B, neo soul, and dance-pop, while drawing on an array of other genres such as funk, hip hop, alternative rock, electronica, and Latin music. The album's producers incorporated synthesizer melodies, fragmented beats, distorted guitar, and eccentrically manipulated vocals and song structures, while much of the lyrics were written by singer-songwriter Static Major, who shared a close friendship and strong rapport with Aaliyah. The resulting songs deal with the complexities of romantic love and different stages in a relationship. Aaliyah viewed the album as a reflection of herself as both a young adult and a matured vocalist.

Aaliyah was critically and commercially well-received upon release, charting at number two on the US Billboard 200. However, it sold diminishingly afterwards. After the album's first single "We Need a Resolution" performed moderately, Blackground and Virgin wanted a high-charting follow-up to increase the album's sales. The labels chose "Rock the Boat" after it began receiving airplay as an album cut. Aaliyah shot a music video for the song in the Bahamas, but died in a plane crash during a return flight to the US on August 25. After her death, sales of the album greatly increased and led it to the top of the Billboard 200, eventually reaching more than 13 million copies sold worldwide. Released during a period of peak activity in R&B, the album has since been cited by critics as one of the genre's best and most influential records from this era, impacting artists such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, and the Weeknd. After years of internal and legal conflicts between Blackground, the singer's estate, and the album's creators, Aaliyah was released to music streaming services for the first time in 2021.