This month for the River of Honey Culture Spotlight I am featuring the late great Aaliyah Dana Haughton. Anyone even remotely familiar with 90s R&B will have heard Aaliyah’s smooth, gentle voice that glided on tracks like “One In A Million,” one of her greatest hits from her album by the same name, “At Your Best (You Are Love”), her remake of the Isley Brothers classic, and “If Your Girl Only Knew,” one of my personal favorites.
I grew up on Aaliyah’s music. She came on the scene when I was 11 and passed away when I was 18 and so her music was a part of my girlhood soundtrack. I completely related to “The One I Gave My Heart To” when I mourned the loss of my first relationship. All of my friends and I taped her videos and tried to learn the dances on the weekend. One friend of mine started wearing her hair swooped over one eye and wearing baggy pants, mimicking Aaliyah’s “sweet but street” style. I rocked “Are You That Somebody” every night in the summer of ’98 and I did a movement piece to her song “Four Page Letter” when I was a student at Freedom Theatre in Philly.
I have never been one to mourn celebrities but there was something about Aaliyah’s 
death that really struck me. Maybe it was because of how young she was. Maybe it was because it seemed like her career was starting to skyrocket, as she was moving into acting. Maybe it was because, even though she was a star, she always seemed so humble and nonchalant, not overly concerned about the limelight. It probably is all of these things, along with a few others. But I know that when I heard the terrible news of her death I was devastated in a way that I have never been about someone I never knew personally.
If she were alive, today would be her 33rd birthday. Can you believe it’s already 10, going on 11, years since she has been gone? Today I want to take this moment to remember Aaliyah for her greatness and her sweetness, knowing that she is more than likely excelling in the spiritual world.
R.I.P. Baby Girl.
Check out Janet’s Jackson’s remarks about Aaliyah in the video below.
*The Culture Spotlight of River of Honey features Afrikan artists, musicians, dancers, writers, and producers of Pan-Afrikan culture. Contact me at oshunshango@gmail.com if you would like to be featured!
