Without question, when you think of Aaliyah, you undoubtedly think of her former producer and mentor, Timbaland. He is the man behind some of her monster hits, “Try Again” and “Are You That Somebody.” Although the late singer has been gone for more than a decade now, scores of artists, most recently Drake and Chris Brown, have mined old vocals from Aaliyah’s catalog in an attempt grab monster hits of their own. But according to Timbaland, the reason those collaborations never matched up to the success that Aaliyah is because he wasn’t on the record.
Tim then made direct references to Drake and Brown’s collaborations, “Enough Said” and “Don’t Think They Know,” and offered them up as proof of why an Aaliyah record without Timbaland will never succeed.
“Chris Brown got a record, it won’t work. Drake can go do a record with Aaliyah, it ain’t gonna work. Aaliyah’s music will only work with its soulmate, which is me,” Tim explained.
To be fair –Aaliyah worked with a number of producers during her career, the futuristic, otherworldly sound bed that Timbaland crafted for Aaliyah’s soft, dewy vocals resulted in the biggest hits of her career and took her from simply being an R&B star to a worldwide pop superstar.
It’s safe to say that her fans miss the magic between Aaliyah and Timbo; she collaborated hits with many others. Check out some of her greatest collaborations below. – nicholas robinson
