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One in a Million is the second studio album by American singer Aaliyah. It was first released on August 27, 1996 by Blackground Records and Atlantic Records. The album was recorded from August 1995 to July 1996 with a variety of producers including Timbaland, Missy Elliott, Carl-So-Lowe, J. Dibbs, Jermaine Dupri, Kay Gee, Vincent Herbert, Rodney Jerkins, Craig King, Darren Lighty, and Darryl Simmons. The album featured several guest vocalists, including Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Treach, and Slick Rick.
One in a Million was well received by most critics, including Rolling Stone, who named it the 90th best album of the 1990s. It was also listed as one of 33 hip hop/R&B albums in Rolling Stone's 'Essential Recordings of the '90s'.[3]One in a Million debuted at twenty on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 40,500 copies in its opening week; twenty-two weeks later the album peaked at eighteen, being certified Gold by RIAA. Within a few months, the album proved Aaliyah's breakthrough and a major milestone in the careers of Missy Elliott and Timbaland. It was certified double Platinum on June 16, 1997.[4] The album was also certified Gold by Music Canada for shipments of 50,000 copies. One in a Million has sold over three million copies in the United States and 8 million copies worldwide.[5][6]
The album produced six singles, 'If Your Girl Only Knew', 'One in a Million', 'Got to Give It Up', '4 Page Letter', 'Hot Like Fire', and 'The One I Gave My Heart To', with the last becoming the album's highest-charting single, peaking at nine on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2004, the album was re-released in Germany with altered artwork, and again in 2006. It included the standard 17 tracks, plus the bonus song 'Come Over'.
Background[edit]
After Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah's uncle, obtained a distribution deal with Jive Records, he signed her to his Blackground Records label at the age of 12.[7][8] He introduced her to R. Kelly, who became her mentor, as well as the lead songwriter and producer for her debut album Age Ain't Nothing but a Number. The album was certified double Platinum by the RIAA,[9] and it sold three million copies in the United States and six million copies worldwide.[10][11] For promotion of the album, Aaliyah embarked on a world tour that lasted from 1994 to 1995, she toured throughout the US, Europe, Japan and South Africa[12][13][14]After facing allegations of an illegal marriage with Kelly, Aaliyah ended her contract with Jive and signed with Atlantic Records.[15] According to Aaliyah's cousin and Blackground Records executive Jomo Hankerson, the music industry âvillainizedâ Aaliyah for her scandal with R.Kelly and that it was hard to get producers for the album.[16] In an interview Hankerson said,â We were coming off of a multi-platinum debut album and except for a couple of relationships with Jermaine Dupri and Puffy, it was hard for us to get producers on the album.â[16] Aaliyah commented on the R.Kelly scandal saying, 'I faced the adversity, I couldâve broken down, I couldâve gone and hid in the closet and said, âIâm not going to do this anymore.â But I love singing, and I wasn't going to let that mess stop me. I got a lot of support from my fans and that inspired me to put that behind me, be a stronger person, and put my all into making One in a Million.â[17]
Initially, One in a Million was supposed to be helmed by Puff Daddy but the songs that the pair worked on together never got finished. According to Aaliyah âI went to Puffâs studio in Trinidad for a week, We started working together but we couldnât finish the songs on time. I had to leave, because I had to go to Atlanta to record with Jermaine Dupri.â[17] Both Craig King and Vincent Herbert were the first set of producers who were asked to work on the album after plans to have puff daddy produce the album fell through. Once the two producers were on board they were asked by Atlantic records to create a sound for the album. According to King 'We came in right as she got her budget ready to go. Vincent [Herbert] and I were the first people she called, we were the first group. Thatâs why we had so much freedom to go in and create a sound because we didnât have to do a song here or there. They wanted us to go in and build a sound. We built a sound and it was a departure from R. Kelly. '[18] After recording songs with Craig King and Vincent Herbert Aaliyah went to Atlanta to meet with Carl-So-Lowe and Jermaine Dupri to work on songs. When she arrived to Atlanta neither of the producers had any material to present to her during that time. In an interview Lowe mentioned ' I believe Jomo, Barry Hankersonâs son, reached out to So So Def and I think it happened from there. I knew she was coming to Atlanta, and we had nothing prepared at the time'. For the album Aaliyah wanted to record songs that were 'simplified' and 'really good' and she worked with Dupri and Lowe in Atlanta for about three to four days on songs.[18]
In the midst of transitioning to a new record label Aaliyah was very anxious about the changes, according to Billboard 'in a press release accompanying the album, she admitted to being a little anxious about jumping from Jive to Atlantic and changing up her sound, but that uncertainty never filters into the music'.[16] With a new distributing deal with Atlantic records and a new team of producers One In A Million was going to reestablish Aaliyah's fan base and broaden her mainstream appeal.[19]The album featured a wide range of producers unlike her debut album which was produced solely by R.Kelly.[19] With the release of the album Aaliyah adapted to a more sexier image which was noticeable by the public.[20] In a 1997 article discussing the 'One in a Million' music video MTV felt that Aaliyah was getting 'all grown up and steamy in the video' and they asked her about her new sexier image.[20] According to Aaliyah 'as far as it being sexy, I would prefer to say sensual. Sensual is being in tune with your sensual self. Sexy, I mean that's in the eye of the beholder, such as beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So if people term it sexy, it's different. So I just think it's being sensual, I would rather term it as that.'[20]
Recording and production[edit]
For producing the album, Aaliyah collaborated with Timbaland and Missy Elliott.
One in a Million was recorded from August 1995 through 1996[1] and the album was executively produced by Craig Kallman, Barry Hankerson and Jomo Hankerson, while Missy Elliott and Timbaland both wrote and produced majority of the album's material. Other producers that were also involved in crafting the album include Rodney Jerkins, Jermaine Dupri, Daryl Simmons, Vincent Herbert, Craig King, Carl-So-Lowe and Kay Gee from Naughty by Nature. 'If Your Girl Only Knew' served as the albums lead single and it was described by Atlantic Records product development director Eddie Santiago as 'a very funky mid-tempo track with lots of heavy keyboard and organ work along with live drums and a thumping bass line'.[19]The single was produced by then newcomer Timbaland and promotional copies of the single was serviced to R&B and cross over stations on July 12.[19] While speaking with Billboard about the development of the album Eddie Santiago mentioned 'We wanted Aaliyah to keep growing, so we didn't want to have the same suspects on her new project'.[19]In that very same interview with Billboard Aaliyah discussed the direction of the album by saying, 'I wanted to maintain my smooth street musical image but wanted to be funky and hot yet sophisticated'.[19]With this album Aaliyah was more involved with crafting the album's material by taking co-writing credits and assisting in the creative direction of the project.[19] An example of her crafting material for the album is with the song 'No Days Go By', on that song Aaliyah was involved with the vocal arrangement.[18]The album has two remake covers, 'Choosy Lover' by the Isley Brothers and 'Got To Give It Up' by Marvin Gaye, which features Slick Rick.[19] Aaliyah decided to cover 'Got To Give It Up' because she wanted to have party songs on the album. In an interview Aaliyah stated, 'I wanted some real party songs, so when my uncle played me that [original track], I thought of how I could make it different. Slick Rick [whoâd been in jail] was on work release at the time, so Vincent got him on the song'.[17] She elaborated more about covering got to give it up by saying âI donât know how Marvin Gaye fans will react, but I hope they like it, I always think itâs a great compliment when people remake songs. I hope one day after Iâm not here that people will cover my songs'.[17]
Once Aaliyah signed with Atlantic she and Atlantic Records chairman Craig Kallman discussed that it was important to find innovative producers who wasn't dominating the music charts at that particular time to produce the album.'[18] The overall goal was to find Aaliyah her own new sound that would define her as an artist.'[18] Eventually Kallman started meeting with multiple unknown songwriters and producers and one producer by the name of timbaland stuck out to him the most.'[18] Kallman mentioned 'I really just started meeting with tons and tons of new songwriters and producers, just looking for someone creative that had their own spin on things. And one day, this young kid came in. His name was Tim Moseley. He started playing me beats and it was a really obvious meeting of, âThis doesnât sound like anything thatâs out there and really had its own super exciting and electric, just dynamic properties.'[18] Kallman eventually contacted Aaliyah and told her about Timbaland and when they met for the first time they hit it off immediately.'[18] According to Kallmen, 'I called up Aaliyah, and I said, âYou need to meet this guy. His nameâs Timbaland, and heâs new. Heâs out of the Devonte [Swing] camp. I said I think this could be your muse to really create something special. And they hit it off'.'[18] During the process for recording 'One in a Million' Aaliyah's label received a demo of a song called âSugar and Spice,â from Timbaland and Missy.[21]The label felt that the song was too childish in content for Aaliyah but they liked both the structure of the record and the melody and they eventually sent the record to Aaliyah. After hearing the song she thought that record was the best thing that she ever heard.[21] So Aaliyah's label flew Timbaland and Missy to Detroit to work with her.[21] Prior to working with Aaliyah both Timbaland and Missy were skeptical about working with her because they didn't think that she would approve of their material. According to Aaliyah âAt first, Tim and Missy were skeptical if I would like their work, but I thought it was tight, just ridiculous, Their sound was different and unique, and thatâs what appealed to me'.[17] Also prior to working with the duo Aaliyah spoke with them over the phone and explained what type of material that she wanted to record. Aaliyah stated, âBefore we got together, I talked to them on the phone and told them what I wanted. I said, âYou guys know I have a street image, but there is a sexiness to it, and I want my songs to complement thatâ; I told them that before I even met them. Once I said that, I didn't have to say anything else. Everything they brought me was the bomb.â[17] Eventually Aaliyah began working with both Timbaland and Missy at Vanguard Studios in Detroit for a week.[17] The earliest songs that she recorded for the album with the duo was 'One in a Million' and 'If your girl only knew'.[17] After spending a week recording songs at Vanguard studios the trio then later flew to Pyramid Studios in Ithaca, New York, to work on more songs.[17]
Aside from recording songs with Timbaland and Missy at Vanguard studios, Aaliyah also recorded songs with producer Craig King at that same studio.[18] According to King 'We did about eight songs and out of the eight, four made it' including the songs 'Got to Give It Up' and 'Never Giving Up'.[18] Never Giving up was written by King and Monica Payne in an interview king stated, ' I wrote Never Givinâ Up with a girl named Monica Payne who now manages V Bozeman. We started to work on the track, writing lyrics. She sat on the floor and the first line, Sitting here in this empty room,â because the room was fairly empty because I had just moved into that house'.[18] The song was King's way of showing love to the Isley Brothers and it was also an ode to the Gospel Group the Clark Sisters with the lines âAngels watching over meâ.[18] The song was made into a duet once Aaliyah heard an earlier demo with just Tavarius Polk and she loved his voice and the producers decided to keep him on the song.[18] The song was recorded in one session with Aaliyah recording the song with the lights turned completely off in the recording booth so people couldn't see her face.[18] Also for the album she worked with Songwriter Diane Warren and producer Darryl Simmons on the song 'The One I Gave My Heart To'.[18] That song came into fruition when songwriter Diane Warren expressed interest in working with Aaliyah, According to Warren: 'I remember really liking Aaliyah and wanting to work with her.'[18]Eventually Warren reached out to Atlantic Records chairman Craig Kallman to express the possibility of working with Aaliyah and Kallman agreed to the collaboration.[18]Her goal in working with Aaliyah was to have her do a certain song that she would not have normally done, to showcase a different side of her, which included displaying her vocal range in a different way than she was used to doing.[18]Once Diane Warren was on board, producer Babyface was chosen to produce the song. Due to unforeseen circumstances he was unable to complete the work, so he enlisted producer Daryl Simmons to replace him instead.[18]Simmons would go on to produce the album version of the song, while pop producer Guy Roche would go on to produce the single version of the song.[22]
Album artwork[edit]
The artwork and overall packaging for the album was shot by Marc Baptiste, prior to shooting the album packaging Baptiste photographed Aaliyah's cover shoot for seventeen magazine.[18] After shooting the cover shoot for seventeen both Baptiste and Aaliyah crossed paths again through Kidada Jones.[18] During that encounter Aaliyah mentioned to Baptiste that she was working on her album and suggested that they should meet at another time.[18] According to Baptiste 'I ran into my friend Kidada Jones who is Quincy Jonesâ daughter. They were really good friends back then. She introduced us at the Mercer Hotel. We got along great and the next thing I know, âIâm going to put my album out. Letâs meet.'[18] A month later after their encounter both Aaliyah and Baptiste met for a meeting to discuss possible concepts for the album artwork.[18] After hearing possible concepts for the album's artwork Aaliyah decided that she wanted to work with him.[18] Baptiste said,'We talked about some concepts and she loved it. After the meeting, I got the call that she really wanted me to shoot the album cover for One in a Million'.[18] The photo shoot for the album lasted from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m and it was shot at various locations with the actual album cover being shot really late, between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.[18] The shooting locations were at a studio and at Canal St. train station in New York.[18] When it came to the concept for the album artwork Baptiste wanted to keep it as real as possible. According to Baptiste ' I wanted to keep her real. The fact that she grew up in Detroit and born in Brooklyn, I wanted to give the album cover a street chic vibe so that sheâs more approachable to an audience. I didnât want to bring her in a Bentley or anything like that. That wasnât her. She was a down to Earth person. I wanted to keep it street chic and play off her beauty'.[18] For the shoot motorcycles were rented and according to Baptiste 'It almost looked like a music video shoot'.[18]
Music and lyrics[edit]
The album opens with an 'alarm call' from the Jungle inspired intro track 'Beats 4 Da Streets' and it features commentary from Missy Elliot. Throughout the intro Missy repeatedly calls Aaliyah's name and tells her to wake up. She also mentions that âYouâve just now entered into the next level the new world of funkâ while various sounds such as echoing amid bells, blippy synths, and heavy bass are playing in the background.[23][24][16]The second track 'Hot Like Fire' is described as a 'panting minimalist controlled-blaze baby-maker' with suggestive lyrics.[16][25] On 'Hot Like Fire' Aaliyah 'hums and moans promises to her new bae that his patience will be rewarded'.[26] The third track 'One in a Million' was described as an ethereal club ballad with seductive Trip hop and drum and bass influences and it features 'shimmering' synths and crickets within its production.[27][24][28] Lyrically on 'One in a Million' Aaliyah 'Aaliyah communicates love and commitment to her man. [29]The forth track ' A Girl Like You' is a hip hop inspired track with a 'standard 90s boom bap beat' where Aaliyah 'holds her own' against guest rapper Treach from Naughty by Nature.[27][16] During the Chorus both Aaliyah and Treach do a 'cute back-and-forth' 'I'm looking for a guy like you.' 'Yeah, you know me, I hope.' 'I hope you feel it in your knees.' 'Oh yes indeed.'[30] The fifth track 'If Your Girl Only Knew' is a Funk[31] and Pop[32] inspired song and it has been described by critics as being 'teasingly witchy'.[33] On 'If Your Girl Only Knew' Aaliyah chides a man for hitting on her when he already has a girlfriend.[31] The song features heavy keyboard and organ work along with live drums and a thumping bass line.[19] The sixth and seventh tracks 'Choosey Lover' and 'Got to Give it up' are remake covers by The Isley Brothers and Marvin Gaye, with the latter song featuring a guest appearance from rapper Slick Rick.[19] For 'Got to give it up' Aaliyah places her falsetto 'toe to toe against the liquid overlapping rhyme scheme of hip hop's ultimate storyteller slick rick'.[34] On the eighth track '4 Page Letter' Aaliyah tells her 'crush to keep an eye out for the mailman' because she has sent him a love letter[16]; also on the song she recalls and follow's her parents advice.[29]
The ninth track 'Everything's Gonna Be Alright' has been described as a 'carefree anthem for the summertime block party'.[23] While the tenth track 'Giving You More' is described as a suggestive song with Aaliyah playing a 'reassuring lover'.[25][16] The eleventh track 'I Gotcha' Back' has been described as a ' jeep-friendly' G-funk[16] mid-tempo song and it contains an interpolation from the song 'Lean On Me' performed by Bill Withers.[25][35] On 'I Gotcha' Back' Aaliyah is promising devotion to her potential boyfriend 'When no one else is there, with me you can chill,' she promises.[25][35] The twelfth track 'Never Givin' Up' is a duet with singer Tavarius Polk and Aaliyah 'plays reassuring lover' on the song,[16] while the Jungle inspired thirteenth track 'Heartbroken' has been described as a 'beautifully composed ballad'.[24][25] On Heartbroken Aaliyah is 'tired of being the more loving one in a lousy relationship and she's tired of having her heart broken'.[36] The fourteenth track 'Never Comin' Back' features 'Timbaland aping the sound of a live band vamping on a laid back groove, while Aaliyah does a call-and-response harmony routine with an imaginary concert audience over canned crowd noise'.[27] On the song Aaliyah is 'Feeling used in a relationship, she stands up for herself and dumps the bum'.[29] The fifteenth track 'Ladies in da House' features guest appearances from both Missy Elliot and Timbaland. While the sixteenth track 'The One I Gave My Heart To' is a Power ballad [37] with strong R&B and Pop influences, where Aaliyah is 'highlighting a broken heart and sense of betrayal'.[38] In a review by Billboard the producution of the song was described as having a 'careful balance of straight ahead pop and R&B sensibilities in producer Guy Roche's instrumental arrangement'.[22] The final track on the album is the Outro 'Came to Give Love (Outro)' and it features Timbaland.
Promotion[edit]
In an effort to generate visual awareness for the album Aaliyah's record label began to run advertisements on June 24-July 8 on cable channels such as BET and The Box.[19] The music video for the lead single If Your Girl Only Knew was serviced to both local and national video shows on July 8.[19] Immediately after the lead single and its accompanying video was released the label went on a heavy print ad campaign featuring Aaliyah in publications such as Seventeen, The Source and other media publications.[19] Due to Aaliyah's outstanding academic performance in school the label planned to run ads in the magazine 'React' an educational teen publication inserted in various daily and weekly papers across the country.[19]Since Aaliyah was an advoate for breast cancer screenings and champions the plight of Alzheimer's disease the label planned for her to do a series of PSA's on those issues.[19]In support of the album an international promotional tour was planned in which she would tour late in the summer/early fall in the United States and towards the end of September she would tour internationally in places such as the UK, Germany, South Africa and Japan.[39]
In September 1996 Aaliyah made an appearance at MTV's sixth annual Rock N' Jock event which aired on MTV on October 26.[40] During the event she participated in the celebrity basketball game and performed her song If Your Girl Only Knew during the half time show.[40][41] On November 16, 1996 Aaliyah performed on Soul Train.[42] At the beginning of 1997 Aaliyah made an appearance on the FOX television show New York Undercover as a musical guest; during her appearance on the show she performed 'Choosey Lover' and the episode that she taped aired on January 16.[43][44] On February 17, 1997 Aaliyah performed One In A Million on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.[45][46] While On February 18, 1997 Aaliyah performed 'One In A Million' on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[47][48] In March 1997 Aaliyah made an appearance at MTV's annual spring break celebration in Panama City, Florida.[49] During MTV spring break Aaliyah performed her song One in a Million and hosted a segment from the concert special called The Grind where she interviewed the Spice Girls before they performed.[50][51] Also in Spring 1997 Aaliyah was planning a tour with Az Yet and Foxy Brown but no further news on that tour was ever mentioned.[20]
Later on in the year in August 1997 MTV News reported that Aaliyah was going on a nationwide tour with Dru Hill, Ginuwine, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Mary J Blige, the tour started on August 28 in Buffalo, New York and ended on October 5 in Phoenix, Arizona.[52] During the month of August Aaliyah made a televised appearance on the short lived Vibe (talk show) where she performed Hot Like Fire and gave the show's host a gift basket full of promo items.[53][54] Also in August 1997 she performed at KKBT's annual Summer Jam concert in Irvine, California at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.[55] In the midst of touring in September 1997 Aaliyah performed her song 'One in a Million' on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy show All That.[56] In October 1997 Aaliyah performed 'The One I Gave My Heart To' at Nickelodeon's fourth annual The big help event in Santa Monica, California.[57][58] On December 10, 1997 Aaliyah performed The One I Gave My Heart To at the UNICEF Gift of Song benefit gala which aired live on TNT.[59][60][61] Also in December she performed on the annual Christmas in Washington television special .[62] Aaliyah also co headlined the B-96 B-Bash hosted by the Chicago radio station B96, during the concert she performed multiple songs including The One I Gave My Heart To.[63]
Singles[edit]
'If Your Girl Only Knew' was released as the album's lead single on July 12, 1996, it peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending of October 19, 1996,[64] and it sold 600,000 copies domestically.[65] It reached the top of the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for two weeks. 'If Your Girl Only Knew' was also a hit in the UK, peaking in the top thirty of the UK singles chart at number 21 when it was originally released by itself. It was re-issued with 'One in a Million' as a double A-side and reached a new peak position of number 15.[66] Also in the UK the song peaked within the top 10 on the UK Dance and R&B charts at number 6 and 4 respectively.[67][68]In Japan, 'If Your Girl Only Knew' peaked at number four on the Tokio Hot 100 chart [69], while in New Zealand the song peaked at number 20.[70] The album's second single Got to Give It Up was released in a few international markets and the song ultimately peaked within the top 40 in the UK, New Zealand and Japan at number 37, 34 and 38 respecitvely.[66][71][72] Got to give it up also peaked within the top ten of the UK Dance and R&B chart at number 10 and 4 respectively.[73][74]One in a Million was released as the second single in the U.S. and third single overall from the album on December 10, 1996 .The song was a top twenty hit in the UK, reaching number fifteen on the official charts and reaching number 5 and 4 on the UK Dance and R&B charts.[75][76]The song also peaked within the top 20 in New Zealand peaking at number eleven.[66][77]
Bayona, this Adventure movie received 7.0/10 IMDb score.
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'4 Page Letter' was released as the album's fourth single on March 11, 1997 and it peaked within the top top 40 in the UK at number 24 and number 14 and 9 on the UK Dance and R&B charts.[66][78][79]'Hot Like Fire and 'The One I Gave My Heart To' were released simultaneously on September 16, 1997. Hot Like Fire charted poorly unlike 'The One I Gave My Heart To' but the song reached the top 40 in the UK at number 30. Also in the UK Hot Like Fire also peaked within the top 40 on the UK Dance and R&B chats at number 25 and 3.[66][80][81]'The One I Gave My Heart To' debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue week of October 4, 1997 at number 24 and went on to peak at number 9,[82] making it the highest-charting single from the album. In the same issue week, the song debuted on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number 18 and went on to peak at number 7.[83] In the UK The One I Gave My heart to peaked within the top 40 at number 30 on the official charts and at number 25 and 3 on the Dance and R&B chats.[80][81] Elsewhere in Europe the song peaked within the top 20 in the Netherlands on the Tipparade chart.[84] In New Zealand the song peaked within the top 40 at number 28.[66][85] The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on October 21, 1997 for sales of over 900,000 copies sold.[86][87]
Critical reception[edit]
In her review for Vibe magazine, music critic Dream Hampton said that Aaliyah's 'deliciously feline' voice has the same 'pop appeal' as Janet Jackson's and is complemented by the producers' funky, coherent tracks.[25] Connie Johnson of the Los Angeles Times found the album's material exceptional, including the 'teasingly witchy' 'If Your Girl Only Knew'.[33]The Source magazine felt that One In A Million 'resides on a different plane than the legion of sophomore attempts that produce only one or two gold singles, Aaliyah is ready to showcase her mature side , Her best songs are about relationship woes'.[96]Q magazine said that, with 'her smooth, sweetly seductive vocal firmly to the fore, [Aaliyah] works through a set of predominantly slow and steamy swingbeat numbers, all clipped beats, luxurious melodies and dreamy harmonies'.[97]Robert Christgau, writing in The Village Voice, was less enthusiastic and cited only 'Got to Give It Up' as a 'choice cut',[98] indicating 'a good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money'.[99]Sputnikmusic's Nick Butler deemed it a 'strange' record with an overemphasis on 'unusually good' and 'occasionally brilliant' ballads but plagued by upbeat tracks that were not on-par, except 'Hot Like Fire'.[95]People felt that the album offered more variety in content as opposed to Aaliyah's debut album, saying: 'At least she's keeping good company. While R. Kelly produced Aaliyah's debut with a one-dimensional musical vision, One in a Million's production posse (which includes Jermaine Dupri and Timbaland) dips into a languid and seductive trip hop on the title track; then stutters jungle rhythm on 'Beats 4 da Streets' and 'Heartbroken.',[24] Bob Waliszewski from Plugged In gave the album a mixed review, he felt that on the album Aaliyah had positive things to say but the message got lost in certain songs that are suggestive, in his opinion the ' Sexually suggestive lyrics spoil whatever good this disc has going for it'. [29]
In a retrospective review, Slant Magazine said One in a Million was 'undoubtedly one of the most influential R&B albums of the '90s,' and credited it for establishing 'Aaliyah and the Timbo family as undeniable hip-hop forces.'[94]Allmusic viewed it as a significant improvement over her debut album with 'greater variety of material' and producers, and called Aaliyah's voice 'smoother, more seductive, and stronger than before'.[88] According to Jon Caramanica from Spin 'One In A Million found Aaliyah at the nexus of street savvy R&B and elegant pop.'[2]
Accolades[edit]
'One In A Million' was nominated for Favorite Female R&B at the 3rd annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards in 1997.[100] Also in 1997 the album was nominated for Best R&B/Soul Album, Female at the 10th annual Soul Train Music Awards.[101] In 1998 'One in a Million' the song was nominated for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female at the 11th annual Soul Train Music Awards.[102] The album was ranked number 90 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest albums of the 90s list.[103] It was also listed as one of 33 Hip hop/R&B albums in Rolling Stone's 'Essential Recordings of the 90s'.[3] In 2007 One In A Million was included on Vibe Magazine's 150 Essential Vibe Albums list, according to vibe 'As seductive as an R&B vocalist, Aaliyah is insouciantly sexy on her second album the songwriting isn't quite polished yet, but the early signs are like gleaming flares.[104]In November 2017 the album was ranked at number 7 on Complex's 'The 50 Best R&B Albums of the '90's' list. According to Ross Scarano 'One in a Million is the definitive account of Aaliyah and Timbaland's collective brilliance' and that songs from the album such as Hot Like Fire, If Your Girl Only Knew, Four Page Letter, One in a Million ' are the songs that modern R&B, rap, and EDM could not do without'.[105]
Commercial performance[edit]
One In a Million debuted at number 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 40,500 copies in its first week.[106] During the Christmas week of 1996 the album reached its peak at number 18 selling 71,000 copies for that week.[107] The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on October 23, 1996, On February 5, 1997, the album was certified Platinum making it, at the time, her second platinum album. Lastly On June 16, 1997, the album was certified 2Ã Platinum, with more than 2 million copies shipments. It sold an additional 1.1 million copies in 1997.[108] After Aaliyah's death, One in a Million returned to the Billboard 200, and US. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. During this time the album also topped the Top Catalog Albums for 12 weeks.
In Canada One in a Million debuted at number 35 on the Canadian RPM Albums Chart on September 9, 1996[109] and it reached its peak at number 33 the following week later on September 16.[110] The album was certified gold by Music Canada for 50,000 copies sold on May 28, 1997[111] On September 7, 1996 the album entered both the UK Albums Chart and UK R&B Chart peaking at number 33 and 3 respectively.[112][113] the album eventually was certified gold in the UK by the BPI for 100,000 copies sold. In Japan the album peaked at number 36 [114] on the Oricon albums chart and it received a gold certification by the RIAJ. The album also charted in other international territories such as Australia, The Netherlands and Sweden where the album peaked at number 93, 62 and 41 respectively. Overall the album has sold 3 million copies in the US[11] and 8 million copies worldwide.[6][115] Also the album has sold an additional 756,000 units through BMG Music club, Nielsen SoundScan does not count albums sold through clubs like the BMG Music Service, which were significantly popular in the 1990s.[116]
Track listing[edit]
^[a] denotes additional producer
Charts[edit]
Certifications[edit]
Personnel[edit]
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[134]
References[edit]
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=One_in_a_Million_(Aaliyah_album)&oldid=897406631'
It has been 15 years since Aaliyah died in a plane crash, ending a life and career that were only beginning to realize their full potential. The three albums she released while alive influenced some of todayâs most significant artistsâDrake, Beyoncé, the Weeknd, and many more. But you wonât find most of her music online. In fact, Aaliyahâs most popular, most important worksâthe albums One in a Million and Aaliyah, and late-career singles like âAre You That Somebody?ââarenât available for streaming or sale on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, or any other online music service.
Digital voids like these can result from legal battles over uncleared samples (as with De La Soul), or from musicians holding out for better royalty terms (the Beatles, until recently). Other times theyâre the result of ideological stands against the devaluation of artistic output (Joanna Newsom), or cranky nitpicking about audio quality (Neil Young). But Aaliyahâs internet absence is differentâthereâs no logic to it. Itâs not an artistic statement or a play for more money, and thereâs no dedicated Aaliyah-only streaming service in the works.
Instead, thereâs a single, stubborn man, sitting on a catalog that includes almost all of her most famous work, as well as albums from Timbaland and Toni Braxton, and a trove of unreleased original material thatâs never before been heard. The situation puts her entire musical legacy at risk of fading from memory. Year by year, streaming accounts for a greater portion of an artistâs visibility and reverence among the next generation of listeners. And he refuses to budge.
To understand Aaliyah, and the fate of her iconic catalog, you have to understand her uncle, Barry Hankerson, who groomed the singer for stardom from a young age as her manager and the co-founder of her label home, Blackground Records. The 70-year-old Harlem native was an extraordinary figure in the music business, who helped launch not just Aaliyahâs career, but also those of R. Kelly, Ginuwine, Timbaland, and Missy Elliott. But his achievements remain shrouded in mystery. âIâm consistently amazed by the things Barry Hankerson has accomplished,â says veteran music journalist Jim DeRogatis, one of the few members of the press ever to talk regularly with Hankerson, mostly during his long tenure at the Chicago Sun-Times. âHe is this Zelig-like figure. Almost nothing is known about this man.â Despite multiple requests for comment, Hankerson declined to participate in this story.
Hankerson was not, by training, a music man. In the late 1960s, he attended the historically black Central State University in Ohio, majoring in sociology and developing a reputation as a campus radical. He also played starting safety on the schoolâs football team, and after graduation, had auditioned for a roster spot with the New York Jets. But he never made it past the development league, and hung up the cleats after a year, seeking a career in politics.
By the early 1970s he was employed as a community organizer in the office of Coleman Young, the mayor of Detroit. It was there that he first met the singer Gladys Knight, who was scheduled to perform while working at a local fundraising benefit. Love at first sight it was not. The taciturn, serious Hankerson viewed Knight as a âpampered singer,â according to a January 1975 Jet magazine cover story. Knight, in turn, described Hankerson as âvery evil.â
But the two remained in contact, and within a few years they were married. It was an odd union. Both Hankerson and Knight already had children from previous marriages. Knightâs, whose signature hit, âMidnight Train to Georgia,â had just been released, was world famous at the age of 30; Hankerson, 27, was a complete unknown.
Hankerson began to use Knightâs connections and capitalize on her celebrity. He appeared with her on that Jet cover, sporting a tasteful leisure suit, a trim goatee, and an Afro. He convinced Knight to leave her backing band the Pips, and negotiate better terms with her label. He produced her movie debut, the aptly named Pipe Dreams, a box office flop about Alaskan oil workers. And, in his first foray into the music business, he started a management company to handle her affairs.
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When they divorced in 1979, Hankerson abandoned Detroit politics for Los Angeles glamour. He spent most of the '80s pitching unproduced screenplays and managing a gospel group, the Winans. It was only after a decade in the trenches that he found his next breakout star: Robert Sylvester Kelly, a Chicago train station busker.
âIâm consistently amazed by the things Barry Hankerson has accomplished. He is this Zelig-like figure. Almost nothing is known about this man.â âJim DeRogatis
Hankerson managed R. Kelly for the next 10 years and executive produced his first four albums. From the start, though, there was a problem: Kelly was a gifted songwriter and producer, but he was also rumored to be a sexual predator.
Tiffany Hawkins, one of his earliest alleged victims, met Kelly in 1991 at the age of 15. Enticed by promises of stardom, Hawkins claimed in a civil suit that she had sex with Kelly, and that he had her participate in group sex with other underage girls. When Hawkins turned 18, she says, Kelly dumped her. She attempted suicide. Numerous other young women would make similar allegations in the years to come; Kelly avoided conviction, often opting for out-of-court settlements.
How much did Hankerson know? Itâs impossible to say. Still, if he had indeed heard or suspected anythingâat least in 1991âit wasnât enough to dissuade him from introducing Kelly to his 12-year-old niece, Aaliyah Haughton.
Aaliyah was the daughter of Hankersonâs sister Diane. Her talent was evident from a young age. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Detroit, she competed on Star Search in 1989 and, at Hankersonâs urging, performed onstage with Knight. (Hankerson and Knight had by this time reconciled.) With her parentsâ approval, Aaliyah agreed to let Hankerson manage her, and he signed her to a recording contract with Blackground Records, a boutique label distributed by Jive Records that he founded with his son, Jomo, in 1993. (Jomo declined to comment for this story.)
Hankerson served as executive producer on all of her albums; he managed her publishing and royalty deals; he surrounded her with some of the most talented musicians of the era. For her debut, he paired her with Kelly, who produced and wrote most of the songs on Age Ainât Nothing But a Number, released in 1994. The title track, written by Kelly, was a hit, but in retrospect, it was also a not-so-coded reference to their clandestine sexual relationship. Aaliyah was 14 when the song was released; Kelly was 27. On August 31, 1994, they were secretly married, with Aaliyah claiming to be 18 on the marriage certificate.
After Vibe published a story about Kelly in its December 1994/January 1995 issue and included a copy of the fraudulent certificate, the marriage went public; it was annulled shortly thereafter. Hankerson, reportedly furious, permanently separated Aaliyah from Kelly, but he didnât cut his own business ties with him until years later, in 2000. Kelly, at the time the most popular R&B singer in the world, was too valuable.
In 1996, after striking a distribution deal with Atlantic Records, Hankerson moved Blackgroundâand Aaliyahâfrom Jive to Atlantic, gaining full control of her masters in the process. To replace Kelly, he recruited an emerging songwriting/production duo from Virginia Beach, Missy Elliott and Timbaland, to work on the next album. Released in 1996, One in a Million went double platinum on the backs of singles like the title track and âIf Your Girl Only Knew,â which both became radio hits thanks to Timbalandâs innovative production style, Elliottâs memorable hooks, and Aaliyahâs effortlessly icy vocals. Hankerson quickly signed Timbaland to a solo deal, along with his collaborator Magoo, but Elliott defected to launch her own recording career, leaving Blackground short a songwriter once again.
Hankerson signed a Timbaland collaborator from Louisville, Kentucky, named Static Major, and over the next four years the pair turned out some of the best songs of the era, including Ginuwineâs âPony,â in 1996; Aaliyahâs greatest single, âAre You That Somebody?,â in 1998; and âTry Again,â her first and only No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. By the turn of the millennium, she was an international star.
This was peak Aaliyah. Her music was tight, upbeat and complex, layering double and triple harmonic lines. Her voice, in isolation, was not among the all-time greats, but her whispery presence on a track was captivating. Her angular, syncopated dance moves spawned dozens of lesser imitators, and her fashion choicesâthe oversized jeans, the exposed midriff, the waist chain attached to the belly ringâbecame definitive late '90s style.
Her self-titled third album launched in July 2001. Though it was pitched against the difficult headwind of widespread online file sharing, Aaliyah managed to go platinum twice, thanks to singles like âRock the Boatâ and âMore Than a Woman.â
Six weeks later, at the age of 22, Aaliyah was dead. Sheâd been shooting the music video for 'Rock the Boat' in the Bahamas when her plane crashed immediately after takeoff. Carrying eight people and luggage, the plane was overloaded. Its pilot, Luis Morales, had obtained his license by falsifying his flight logs. An autopsy revealed traces of cocaine in his system.
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Hankerson was devastated, retreating into a long period of grief. He made no public statements about her death. According to those who worked with him, he never really recovered.
In February 2002, seven months after Aaliyahâs death, Chicago Sun-Times reporter Jim DeRogatis received an anonymous videotape in the mail, showing a man who looked exactly like R. Kelly urinating into the mouth of a underage girl. DeRogatis, who had already been investigating Kellyâs reputation as a statutory rapist, immediately turned the tape over to the police. In a published transcript with the victimâs mother, DeRogatis later speculated on the identity of his source, using initials instead of full names: âIâm sure that tape came by B.H.,â he said. âHeâs tired of seeing young girls get hurt.â
Hankerson had split with Kelly, acrimoniously, sometime in 2000. When I talked to DeRogatis recently, nearly 14 years after the infamous tape first leaked to the public, he recalled Hankerson fondly. âI always found him to be a man with a conscience who felt wrong by his niece,â he told me.
For a brief period after Aaliyahâs death, it looked like Blackground might survive. The label still had Timbaland and Static Major. Hankerson had managed Braxton since 1997, and, in 2003, he inked her to his label as well. He signed Aaliyahâs possible replacement, a 12-year-old named JoJo aimed at the Radio Disney demographic. And he had the unreleased, unmixed vocals of Aaliyahâs outtakesâmore than a dozen potential songs on two-inch reel-to-reel tapes. All they needed was a producer.
According to Hankersonâs eventual business partner, Rell Lafargue, COO of independent music publisher Reservoir Media, Hankerson never found one. He couldnât find the sound he thought the music deserved. And the wound left by Aaliyahâs death remains raw: âBarry canât be in the room when the new music is playing,â says Lafargue. Grief turned to despondency; despondency turned to inertia. Inexplicably, Blackground stopped releasing music, and artists stopped getting paid. As the music business moved from CDs to MP3s, and MP3s to streaming media, Blackground didnât participate.
Aaliyah One In A Million Download Mediafire
Soon the lawsuits started. In 2007, Braxton sued Blackground, claiming a breach of trust and misrepresentation and accusing Hankerson of âfraud, deception, and double-dealing.â In 2009, Timbaland sued as well, alleging that the label had refused to provide financing for his third album with Magoo and that Hankerson was interfering with his career as a producer. (Timbaland and his lawyers declined to comment for this story.) In 2013, JoJo filed her own suit, alleging that Blackground had refused to release her third album for more than six years, despite the fact she had delivered numerous audio masters to Hankerson.
That same year, Jeffery Walker, a former producer for Blackground, sued the label after being sent a tax bill from the IRS for more than $200,000 of reported income he says he never received. Walkerâs lawyer claimed that Hankersonâs son Jomo had endorsed the checks himself, then cashed them in a Blackground account. The case is ongoing.
All the other lawsuits were settled out of court, with the parties signing confidentiality agreements. Speaking with the Fader earlier this year, JoJo, whoâs now signed to Atlantic, described this period in her career: âIâm not entirely clear on what Iâm not supposed to talk about, because I want them to leave me alone. It was such a strange and scary time. Threats and a lot of drama.â (JoJo declined to comment for this story.)
The pattern in these lawsuits was similar. Hankersonâs lawyers would contest every filing and push for changes of jurisdiction, generally seeking to delay things as long as possible. âThey use every available means to crush you into a powder,â said Kelli Hooper, a lawyer who formerly represented Walker. âThatâs what Blackground does.â Once the legal tactics were exhausted, the cases entered the discovery process, where Hankerson might be deposed under threat of perjury. At this point, Blackground would unexpectedly settle. âConcerns about testifying under oath may have led to settlement in this case,â said one lawyer employed by a Blackground plaintiff, âand perhaps others.â
![]() âItâs not above Barry Hankerson to have someone call me impersonating a reporter.' âNeil Sunkin, Attorney for Kyme Dang
Another lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles court in 2007 by Hankersonâs former girlfriend, Kyme Dang, contained the most explosive allegations. It was contested bitterlyâin fact, when Complex called Neil Sunkin, Dangâs attorney, for comment, he requested multiple forms of identification. âItâs not above Barry Hankerson to have someone call me impersonating a reporter,â he said.
Dang is a Calabasas, California, hairdresser who began dating Hankerson shortly after Aaliyahâs death. The two were together for five years, and even lived together for a time, but after Dang ended their relationship in late 2006, Hankerson tried to destroy her life, she says. First, he began spreading rumors about Dang online, falsely alleging that she was HIV positive. Then, using the money he had earned from Blackground, he purchased the hair salon she worked at and fired her. Finally, she alleges, he tried to blow up her car. âIt was set on fire, totalled, and all charred up,â she says.
Hankersonâs lawyers denied the allegations, and he was never charged in connection to the arson, but the rest of Dangâs story was corroborated when she sued Hankerson for wrongful termination. Evidence presented at trial showed the source of the HIV rumors was an IP address connected to Hankerson, and business records proved he did indeed purchase the Frank Grecko Salon where she worked, paying $400,000 for the privilege of firing his ex.
In this case, Hankerson refused to settle. That was a mistake. The evidence against him was overwhelming, and the jury sided with Dang, awarding her more than $5.8 million in damages. Following the decision, Hankerson told Dangâs lawyers that the judgment would bankrupt him personally, and that if they wanted to get paid, Blackground Records would have to act as a guarantor for the debt.
Dangâs lawyers agreed, but, they say, Hankerson failed to honor the deal. In early 2015, Dang sued again, alleging that she hadnât received any of the money she was owed, and that Blackground was in default. By this time Blackground had ceased to function as a business, and its musical catalog, representing a revolutionary moment in the history of R&B, had disappeared from the internet. The only confirmed instance of songs from One in a Million and Aaliyah appearing on a digital music service occurred in 2013, when Craze Digital, a distribution company that never owned the rights to Aaliyahâs music, illegally posted them on iTunes. After a round of litigation, the tracks were removed. A request inquiring about Aaliyahâs past availability on Spotify went unanswered.
In 2012, Hankerson sold a stake in Blackgroundâs publishing rights to Reservoir. The centerpiece of the deal was Aaliyahâs tapes. âAt the time we were talking about releasing it for the 10th anniversary of her death,â says Golnar Khosrowshahi, Reservoirâs CEO. âNow itâs the 15th.â
Khosrowshahi explains that her relationship with Blackground has been frustrating, but that she wasnât disappointed with the deal. She has struck deals to license Aaliyah samples to a number of rappers, including a snippet of the unreleased material that appeared on ASAP Rockyâs âFuckin' Problems.â And she was particularly enthusiastic about the Static Major catalog, especially the publishing rights to Ginuwineâs âPony,â which acts like a tax on every strip club in America.
She also promises that a final Aaliyah release is forthcoming. Several artists have already been rumored to be attached to the project, including Timbaland, Kanye West, and Drake. In fact, a single, âEnough Saidâ (featuring and released unofficially on SoundCloud by Drake), was slated to appear on a posthumous album that Hankerson announced would be available at the end of 2012. Unfortunately, the song only ended up further delaying the project. The Haughton family swiftly released a statement denying any connection to the album after the release of âEnough Said.â Aaliyahâs closest collaborators, Timbaland and Elliott, denounced it in a statement provided to Billboard by Elliottâs manager: âAlthough Missy and Timbaland always strive to keep the memory of their close friend alive, we have not been contacted about the project nor are there any plans at this time to participate.. Both Missy and Timbaland are very sensitive to the loss still being felt by the family, so we wanted to clear up any misinformation being circulated.â
In 2014, Drake and his long-time producer, Noah â40â Shebib, backed off from the album. In an interview with Vibe, Shebib said that he âwasnât comfortableâ working on the project any longer after the negative press surrounding âEnough Saidâ created, according to him, a âstigmaâ around their involvement. (Earlier this month, another song from the project, âTalk Is Cheap,â was leaked to the web but failed to generate much interest, perhaps a confirmation of Shebibâs fears.)
Since then, some progress has been made. âThey have some great vocals on it, and a lot of production,â says Lafargue, who arranged the deal with Blackground and has heard some of the tracks. âTheyâve kept it true to Aaliyahâs style.â
LaFargue thought the final Aaliyah album would be finished before the end of this year, although he admits he has thought that every previous year.
Right now, the only Aaliyah album legally available online is Age Ainât Nothing But a Number, the one that Hankerson doesnât control the masters for, and the one where she sings lyrics penned by the suspected pedophile she was fraudulently married to. This does not honor her legacy.
As the years pass, thereâs a bigger riskâthat Aaliyah will be forgotten. Nostalgia is cyclical, and Aaliyah has already peaked as a fashion icon on Tumblr. Right now, the music industry is the midst of a shift to an all-streaming landscape. When the transition is complete, if Aaliyah's catalog isn't on the right platforms, her music could functionally cease to exist. Within a few years, she could transition from resurrected angel to period-piece obscurity. One day, if you want to understand what made her so important, youâll have to dig out your Discman and pray you can still find a used CD copy of One in a Million or Aaliyah. And if that happens, Uncle Barry will be the one to blame.
Aaliyah One In A Million Download Mp3
Stephen Witt is the author of How Music Got Free. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker, and he lives in Brooklyn.
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