Sultry Singer Aaliyah

Jet, July 23, 2001

On Why It's Cool To Be So HOT

Hit performer Aaliyah lives up to her unique name.

Aaliyah is Arabic for "the highest, most exalted one, the best."

And she is cool with that.

In fact, she is totally cool with everything that makes her one of the hottest performers in show business today.

She is a confident, self-assured 22-year-old star who admits that she is "cool" with her name, being called a sex symbol, her adoring fans and the demands of being a public figure. She has the right attitude about her success, which explains her staying power, show-biz industry observers note.

This week, the sultry songstress drops her third album, the self-titled Aaliyah. The first single, We Need A Resolution, is in heavy rotation on the radio, and the video is a hit on all music cable networks.

"This album is a good reflection of Aaliyah and the person she is today," she tells JET. "I am a young adult now, and I think this album shows my growth vocally. Even if the feel of it is older, it is still something that my younger fans can still relate to. I am very happy with it. It has something for everybody."

She says the album celebrates relationships--"all kinds of relationships, good ones, bad ones, even abusive ones," she notes.

The current single "speaks about a couple unresolved in their issues. They are having problems. She wants to find out what is really causing these problems, but they are not communicating."

Her longtime producer, Timbaland, brought his unique sound as the album's key producer. They have an easy-going, laid-back working relationship that really works, she says. "Tim and I've known each other for five years now. There's a friendship there as well When we work together, it is always fun. Even with the other producers on the album, we've all known one another for awhile. When we go into a studio, it's like going into a club. It's like friends hanging out and kicking it. We laugh, we joke and then we work. The chemistry is just beyond words."

Aaliyah was a protegee of superstar hitmaker R. Kelly when she arrived on the music scene in 1994 at age 14 with her first album, Age Ain't Nothing But A Number, with the hits Back and Forth and a remake of the Isley Brothers' At Your Best (You Are Love). Her second album, One In A Million, released in 1996, featured the double-platinum single, If Your Girl Only Knew. She also recorded the huge hit, Are You That Somebody, from the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack.

She credits her cool, laid-back musical sound with helping her remain popular: "I stay true to myself and my style, and I am always pushing myself to be aware of that and be original. The only person who Aaliyah competes with is herself."

She describes her cool-sounding style as "very street, but sweet, hip-hop and R&B. There's a sweetness to it. My singing style is very soft, my signature is falsetto, with a breathy tone. On this album you hear some songs that call for a little more power, and I am able to go there, but my signature style is something that is very laid-back and relaxed. The tracks come at you kind of tough, a bit edgy, hip-hop, but the vocals can be very soothing. I like that."

With strikingly good looks, she has become a sex symbol. And she admits that it's okay with her that she's considered sexy.

"I know that people think I'm sexy and I am looked at as that, and it is cool with me. It's wonderful to have sexy appeal. If you embrace it, it can be a very beautiful thing. I am totally cool with that. Definitely. I see myself as sexy. If you are comfortable with it, it can be very classy and it can be very appealing."

Aaliyah also says she sees herself as "a total performer." Born Aaliyah Dana Haughton in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in Detroit, she graduated from the Detroit Performing Arts High School in 1997 with a 4.0 GPA.

"My parents (Michael and Diane Haughton) come from the time of Fred Astaire and Sammy Davis Jr. Back then those people had to do it all. They had to be able to sing, dance and act. So that's how I was trained. I took acting when I was young. I did a lot of plays. I sang. I had dance classes. I was trained in each thing. It was always part of the plan to move into acting."

She became a sought-after movie actress with her break through role in Romeo Must Die, starring opposite Jet Li, last year. The film was a box-office smash and led to her huge record, Try Again, produced by Timbaland. Her performance earned her nominations for MTV's 2001 Movie Awards for both Best Female Performance and Breakthrough Performance Female.

She points out, "Romeo Must Die came at the right time. It was the right vehicle for me."

She adds, "Because I came out as a singer, I took the time to get an acting coach who I've been with for years now. And when I felt ready, I went out for Romeo. He was able to be there with me on the set. I am constantly honing my craft."

She notes, "There is a bit of acting involved when you get in front of a camera for a video and even when you perform onstage, you're putting on a show. But there's a difference. In film, you are a totally different person than in the video. But just being around cameras on the set and getting comfortable with that environment can definitely prepare you for something like a film."