Baby Girl

by Kathy Iandoli

  Peace and Love,

  Z., Age 15

  Indiana

  Dear Aaliyah,

  Ever since I can remember, you have always came across my TV screen and your songs played on the radio frequently when I was younger. You stood out to me so much that one day I just screamed to the top of my lungs “MOM WHO IS THIS, WHAT’S HER NAME!?” when she replied “Aaliyah.” I was totally mesmerized. I wasn’t even in kindergarten yet. You definitely had me at a young age. My eyes were glued to the TV when your videos came on and I tuned out any other noise in the car when your songs played on the radio. As I grew older, I noticed I always seen the same videos, never seen you at any award shows that I would watch and heard the same songs from you. I took it upon myself to find more from you and that’s when I discovered you were no longer with us.

  I was born in 2003. I was 9 years old at the time I realized you were gone. I was beyond hurt because I would think in my head all the time, “I would love to go to an Aaliyah concert” or “I wanna meet her,” and to know I didn’t get to experience you while you were here on this earth made me sad, but at least I have your music, movies and fashion that has inspired me and millions of others around the world to remember you by. I didn’t realize how much you were an inspiration to me (other than listening to your music) until I became a teenager. I would watch all of your old interviews and you taught me that there is nothing wrong with being you and being original. You taught me that if I work hard for what I want in life, I will get it. When I strive for something that I want and I get tired and want to quit, I think of why I’m doing it and why I can’t quit, but I have also thought, “What would Aaliyah do??”

  I learned from you that I don’t have to ever put myself against anyone to come out the greatest. That is why my favorite quote from you will forever be, “I’m competing with myself to be the best.” There isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t think of you and what you could be doing if you were still here. I just want you to know that you’re an inspiration to me and your impact is still felt by many, including people like myself who didn’t experience you while you were here. Thank you for the unmatched beauty, talent and timeless music that you have shared with us in your lifetime. Thank you for always being so humble, and so kind. Thanks for being a role model to me, and thanks for always being AALIYAH. I love you, Aaliyah, keep resting in perfect peace.

  With appreciation,

  Nisa

  Saint Louis, MO

  Aaliyah, you have helped me through so much in life because of the lyrics in your music. You have inspired me to never give up on a dream and to always stay true to myself. I just want to say thank you for just being you! I started listening to your music when I was 6 years old and I remember hearing “One in a Million” playing inside a Beauty Supply Store and your voice sounded soothing to me. It calmed me just for a moment. The song “One in a Million” became my favorite song ever since. Whenever I’m feeling nervous or just want comfort, I listen to this song just to take me into a different place. You have songs for every mood or emotion, and I really like that because I can relate to all of them whenever I’m feeling a certain way. I love your style and how you were a trendsetter. You inspired me to wear baggy clothes. I really hated wearing dresses and skirts because it wasn’t for me. You inspired a lot of your fans that were tomboys who hated wearing girly stuff. You helped me find myself through rough times. The way you never got mad about anything helped me change for the better. So thank you for that. I believe the most exciting thing to have in my life is having the same birthday as your favorite singer. You don’t see a fan with the same birthday as another famous person. Now that’s rare to me. Thank you Aaliyah for the love you shown, you will always have a special place in my heart. I really miss you BabyGirl. Lots of Love from your biggest fan.

  Da’Mya Buford

  Age 17

  Holly Springs, MS

  Aaliyah has changed my life from a very young age. My mom had her CDs. Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number, One in a Million, Aaliyah. My mom had a whole collection of CDs of artists from the 90s to current day at that time. I would go through all the CDs, I was maybe 6 or 7, and look at the album covers. I didn’t know any of the artists. I would look at the cover art and something drew me to Aaliyah’s Aaliyah CD, so I asked my mom “who is that?” and she replied “Aaliyah” and I said “Can I listen to it?” and ever since then I’ve been a fan. I would sing “At Your Best” to the top of my lungs and my mom would say “Why are you yelling? Is she yelling?” Then I’d laugh. Aaliyah definitely defines who the person I am today in terms of music wise and fashion wise. I always admired her fashion and loved her humbleness. My favorite music video when I was younger was “Are You That Somebody.” I am now 15 and I am on my way to beginning my music career. As a fan I hope I can collect all three of Aaliyah’s vinyl records. I never want to forget about her she’s always in my heart.

  Love, A.

  Age 15

  Queens, NY

  Aaliyah has changed my life by making me more confident and happy with how I look. She showed me that I can be beautiful just the way I am and inspired me to be successful. I always think of the lyrics, “If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again,” from the song “Try Again” to keep me motivated. The first song of hers I remember listening to was “One In A Million” and I instantly fell in love with her voice. Knowing she released One In A Million in 1996 when she was 17 made me believe that people can accomplish a lot at a young age. She also inspired a bit of my style. I started wearing baggy pants with small tops and big jackets because I would see how stunning she looked with that style. Watching her music videos, live performances, interviews, behind the scenes, home videos, and funny moments makes me wish I had met her; she was such a nice humble person that cared so much for everyone. I recently wanted to get into dance after seeing her dance moves in her music videos and live performances. I am currently collecting her posters, records, and CDs. I can’t wait to show my collection to other people. Her music will always inspire me to never give up and to keep growing and moving forward.

  Savannah Mercedes Casillas

  Age 20

  Dallas, Texas

  Aaliyah was my first introduction to being a softer version of myself. I always had a tough exterior, but when I heard “One in a Million” for the first time, it woke something up. Even now as I write this letter, I’m listening to it in the headphones, and a part of me always arrives to a place as an adult I often shut down. It’s as beautiful as she is: vibrant, full of colors that to this day we cannot describe. Her music is timeless, and if you were to toss it on the airwaves now it would be just as relevant as the day it was first played; that’s classic.

  When Aaliyah died, I cried for days. I remember the day clearly. I had come home from volleyball practice and my mom told me, “One of your singers died in a plane crash.” My heart sank when I saw the news. Unaware of how important she was to me, my mom was shocked at how much I cried as I sat on the couch in shock. I had never been so emotional over someone I never met. This hit me deep.

  It was truly a loss to the world, and to me, a young woman who didn’t have too much guidance on how to be a woman in the sense. Sensual, strong, fearless, mysterious, commanding, kind, all at once without forcing to be the center of attention. That in itself was magic; that was Aaliyah to me. Come to think of it, as a grown woman, this is how I move in my daily life and I owe a lot of it to Aaliyah and her music. Having been in the music industry, I learned of course it takes more than just the artist to make the music legendary, but what is a journey without a ship to take it there? She was, and continues to be the vessel, for all of us that were witness to her greatness.

  Thank you, Baby Girl.

  Sincerely, Yaya Martinez

  Age 36

  Phoenix, AZ

  PHOTO OUTRO ONE: SHOOTING YOUR SHOT

  In 1994, Aaliyah traveled overseas, doing international press for Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number
. It was then that photographer Eddie OTCHERE met Aaliyah. He was around nineteen and shooting the photos for his friend Andrew Green’s interview with Aaliyah for his fanzine. Someone was missing from the equation during this press run: R. Kelly. At that point, it was a rarity, since he was with her for the most part wherever she went. Across the pond, she didn’t have him beside her, which presented an interesting opportunity for the interviewer to maybe lay into Aaliyah about the details of her and R. Kelly’s working relationship.

  That didn’t go at all as planned.

  Aaliyah was fifteen yet poised. She sat at the table ready to be questioned by the interviewer, and you can see from the contact sheet that her doe eyes were already piercing into the interviewer’s and OTCHERE’s souls before the interview even began. When she opened her mouth to speak, it was almost like she sang her answers, even the “ummms” and “ahhhs.” “And it was fucking in key!” OTCHERE exclaims. “Then she would speak and go up an octave! It’s like what? Wow, like how do you do that? Like, can you just say my name, just so I know the natural keys of my name? The music was just pouring out of her.” Any line of questioning completely escaped the interviewer, so he couldn’t even get his bearings. “He’s like talking to her and he’s melting into the table,” OTCHERE continues, “and before you know it, his face is on the table, he’s looking like a child. I’m thinking, ‘Andrew, pull your fucking self together, bro! What’s going on? Don’t lose yourself!’ ”

  But it was too late. Aaliyah charmed him.

  “Andrew was gone. He was like… he was melting. He was gonna ask all these questions about R. Kelly and shit and then he met her and it’s like, ‘Nah, I can’t even go there.’ Like, ‘You’re amazing; what’s going on in your world? Tell me more.’ ”

  It was safe to say that Aaliyah was on the verge. Stardom was within her reach, and this was one of the few moments that captured her being on the brink of something special. For the photo shoot, Aaliyah was dressed in a large white Nike polo, with the infamous Tasmanian Devil chain around her neck. She had a ring on her left ring finger, which fans have speculated was a gift from her grandmother, though the choice of finger placement raised some eyebrows given her relationship status. Her hair was pin straight and she wore dark glasses, that is, until OTCHERE asked her to take them off. “I did ask her to take her glasses off, and she didn’t feel totally comfortable with that,” OTCHERE says, but she did take them off for a few shots.

  Cut to just a few short years later, when Aaliyah returned to London for early promo around One in a Million. The glasses were still on, yet the artist had changed some, and she was even more accepting of taking those glasses off. Aaliyah was a star, and she was also entering womanhood. OTCHERE was again assigned to shoot her for a magazine spread. This time her clothes were more fitted—she was in a long-sleeved top with more fitted jeans and a shirt tied around her waist. She wore a camouflage bandana. The Tasmanian Devil chain was gone. “She’s not wearing baggy clothes and she had hips now,” OTCHERE says. She also wasn’t resigned to the requisite hip-hop-style, beginner’s photo-shoot poses she had done at fifteen. Now she knew how to work the camera and pose effectively. She even walked up to a piano in the room and just started playing it. The music was still pouring out of her. She still spoke in key. Again, the whole room was completely taken by her, “but we all felt we were punching above our weight just to even try it,” he adds with a laugh. “It’s like you just, you met her and you fell in love with her and that was the end.” He later named his first daughter Aaliyah in her honor.

  His photos were later featured in the 2018 book Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop. “I thought Eddie’s photos captured her being her,” says Vikki Tobak, author of Contact High, “which was kind of like cool, vulnerable, effortless. Plus she was super-young, just starting out.”

  Few photographers got to witness that flip of a switch in Aaliyah. OTCHERE caught her right before stardom and again right before those glasses came off for good and Aaliyah fully embraced her womanhood. “To watch her grow was a beautiful thing,” he says. The impact she left on him will last forever.

  “She was like an angel, way above anything mere mortals were destined to be, and for me it came across in her voice,” he explains. “Just the way she spoke was like wow, she was just literally talking and singing at the same time. That’s a gift. For me, it’s now become the mark of a great artist… if you speak in key.”

  PHOTO OUTRO TWO: THE PERFECT SHOT

  Photographer Jonathan Mannion is known for capturing moments in his art that otherwise would have never been captured had he not been the man behind the lens. He has a well-documented history of being a camera titan, as his work has become the visual accompaniment to many, many classic hip-hop albums. He’s become a staple for Jay-Z’s album covers, ranging from Reasonable Doubt; In My Lifetime, Vol. 1; Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life; Streets Is Watching; and Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter to even The Blueprint, The Black Album, and the list goes on and on. While Mannion has photographed many legends, most artists would return the accolades and declare that they too were in the presence of a legend. While known for particularly masculine subjects, Mannion has a history of shining when he’s able to show what he’s capable of with female artists, as he was also the photographer who shot Lauryn Hill’s iconic photo of her in all black against a yellow background for the cover of Honey magazine while she was pregnant for the first time. Mannion had the honor of shooting Aaliyah’s domestic and international promotional materials for her Aaliyah album in 2001, as well as taking the photographs that would later be used for her 2002 posthumous EP I Care 4 U.

  The collection of photos were taken in one shoot, over the course of around five hours, with locations changing around during that time frame, scattered throughout Lower Manhattan. Mannion was supposed to have four hours in the morning to shoot with Aaliyah, before she headed to a separate magazine photo shoot. “The night before, they decided they wanted to swap the day,” Mannion remembers. “It was better for the other photographer to shoot in the morning and then [Aaliyah] comes to me and finishes out the day.” The entire shoot was already planned and mapped out, so they had to “unproduce it all and reproduce it,” as Mannion explains. Permits had already been secured, cars were rented, props were ordered, yet everything had to be flipped around in the wee hours of the morning leading up to the shoot, now later in the day.

  “I was required to do ten shots for international press and publicity,” Mannion adds, still in disbelief that the large quantity was the photo requirement within such a short time frame. The shots all had to be with unique setups, as well. Meaning, no two shots could look alike, with the same background, outfit, et cetera. “I’m like, ‘How am I gonna make this happen? In four hours, ten shots?’ ” Mannion continues. But it was for Aaliyah, an emerging icon, so the hassle was worth it. He had a team huddle and was ready to make it happen. “ ‘All right, guys, we’re gonna rise to this occasion,’ ” he remembers telling his team. “ ‘Let’s show up, because she’s magic.’ ”

  Mannion and Aaliyah had only met in passing prior to the shoot, at a nightclub while she was with Damon Dash, where they exchanged some hellos and pleasantries. Like most of Mannion’s work, he has the gift of connecting with his subject through the lens, and despite only being acquaintances beforehand, they ended that photo session as friends. “Working with her was a reward for me for working with the different artists on Blackground Records,” Mannion says. “Having shot Tank and Bradshaw and Timbaland and Magoo—all of the people that they were pushing forward—that was in my understood wheelhouse of what I did and who I was as a photographer. It was like shooting primarily men: the Jay-Z album covers, Ja Rule, DMX. ‘Let’s give him men, because that’s what he really does.’ But my roots are really in fashion, so for me to be able to spend time in a different capacity, you know, with this incredibly talented, beautiful sweet soul… it made me rise to another level.”

  It was a specia
l day all around; Aaliyah didn’t mind hitting up the projects to shoot, nor did she take any umbrage at glamming it up for some looks in studio. She was flexible and kind, and despite being one of the most important artists in R&B at that very moment, she was unshakably humble. So the goal for Mannion was to capture all of that in as many moments as possible. A legend in his own right, he rose to the occasion. It wasn’t that hard given the subject.

  “My thought process was to give them the widest range of her personality in order to give that to the world,” Mannion adds. He curated shots that would take Aaliyah outside of the comfort zone of her public persona, even ordering a bed for the final set scene to give, as he puts it, a “Cuban bedroom” theme. At first the label was concerned that the shot might be too “racy” and “outside of her character,” but Mannion urged them to let Aaliyah explore the opportunity, and if they didn’t want the shot they could scrap it. “There wasn’t any real demands, but I was like, ‘Look, we’re here; let’s finish strong,’ ” Mannion expresses. “She looked amazing; let’s give it to the world. If you don’t want to use it, you guys are in control.” Over the years, it’s become one of the more widely circulated shots among her fan base.

  The photos taken that day run the gamut of Aaliyah’s personality, just as Mannion intended. Each frame depicts Aaliyah in a whole different space and time. The locations included everywhere from the Jacob Javits Center to the housing projects that touch the far end of New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, and a giant block-long photography studio space just a few blocks away from there. The selections that were chosen are some of the most famous photos of Aaliyah, especially since they were taken within the last year of her life. A Post-it on one of the contact sheets shows a delivery date of June 6, 2001, less than three months before her passing.