MovieChat Forums > Aaliyah Discussion > She was bigger post death, but still rat...

She was bigger post death, but still rather mediocre...

posted 6 years ago by kellycallie (728)
10 replies | jump to latest

At the time of her death I had never even heard of her. Yes I was only ''11'' but as a tween I was up on all the popular singers of the day and Aaliyah was not one of them. Don't write this off as some type of entertainment industry racism either. The singer ''Brandy'' for example was a HUGE star and as popular as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera (sic) back then. And there was already huge hype about Beyonce while she was in Destiny's child. ''Survivor'' spent weeks at number 1.

Aaliyah for whatever reason was just not picking of steam while she was alive. Her music barely got any airplay. Her vocals were rather bland in comparison to other R&B singers her gender and age at the time many of which had extremely strong vocal ability (Beyonce, Monica) while Aaliyah did not. But then post death her album started to chart and the radio stations were playing her songs and MTV was playing her videos even far into the next year.

To be honest she was rather mediocre all considering. Most of the fame was gained post death. It is very unfortunate what happened to her regardless..

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

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[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

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[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

She was about as popular as Ja Rule at the time.

[–] Kowalski (75537) 4 years ago

TRUTH^

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

That guy was everywhere back then.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

I wouldn't go that far. Ashanti was, not her.

[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

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[–] [deleted] 4 years ago

When she died she had a horse drawn carriage instead of a hearse which drew criticism because, in some people's opinion, she wasn't "Lady Diana" or anyone like that. I remember someone said "to her fans she was a princess".

I did buy her single "more than a woman" but I can't remember if it was after her death or not.

[–] LuckyLucius (342) 4 years ago

The first time I heard of Aaliyah was when I went to Walt Disney World and I was in the Virgin Megastore there and I found the single of If Your Girl Only Knew and I bought it and was shocked at her talent and then I bought her last album and the One In A Million album. But I think the reason why Aaliyah became really popular after she died is because people for some reason are obsessed with dead singers and they try to get almost every album the late singer releases. Aaliyah when she first came out had more of a street wise image like singer R. Kelly who she was famous for marrying for a short time than the bubblegum pop image some of the teen stars have. But even today there are singers that are used to compare to Aaliyah like Ashanti and when Ashanti came out with her debut album the music magazines called her the new Aaliyah and she went on have a successful career. Another singer that was also compared to Aaliyah was Olivia and she had the same image as Aaliyah but more as a rap star and Olivia's debut album released only two hits and then Olivia became a one hit wonder. But since her death Aaliyah's music is being rediscovered for a new generation of fans

[–] holly61 (957) 9 months ago

I remember the biggest act that summer (2001) being arguably Beyonce - yes she was in Destiny's Child but the media was going crazy over her due to her looks and the success of the single "survivor".

Aaliyah's career was much quieter for some reason. They did not play her on the radio often. Even if she would have lived, her career would not stand a chance against Beyonce. Don't forget what happened to Ashanti (another black female competitor in the music industry). Beyonce had a way of making the public forget about her competition.