"One In A Million" is a 1996 release by Aaliyah, a young lady who truly had style and a beautiful voice. This is a very memorable album for me because I can distinctly remember hearing the track 'One I Gave My Heart To' numerous times on the radio and trying my best to remember the lyrics. This CD, though produced in the 90's, symbolizes for me what musical excellence can happen when hip hop and RnB mesh properly, or better yet when you have all the right elements on the same page. It's hard for me to specifically pinpoint a favorite single or song of mine, considering I love them all, so I'll kind of just go with the flow here.
For starters all 17 songs, one after the next, proceed smoothly and don't overshadow each other. Take for example the intro 'Beats 4 Da Streets'. At the very beginning a bell is tolling, Missy Elliot is calling her to wake up, along with a sound that gives the effect of her time warping into a whole other dimension. I love that. It creates a perfect transition into the second track 'Hot Like Fire', a very bass filled number that causes an instant head nod. Furthermore it alludes to Timberland's production style and Missy's unique approach. Onto 'One In A Million'. I love the way the beat drops on this one. The bass stretches for a second or so on each bar then the snare slaps down creating a nice contrast. All in all there is a similarity between every track that I've come to notice more and more every time I listen to this CD. Each song is allowed to come to a low just as she starts the first verse, which then causes the song to rebuild itself. I think '4 Page Letter' is probably the best use of that rise and fall. She says, "Yo, Turn my music up. Up some more, up some more. Up a little bit more..." and proceeds to KILL IT.
There are few albums of the 90's and 2000's that fall in line for me the way this one dose. It seems that as time has progressed, less and less effort has been placed on real thought and production on some albums. Just about every beat sounds the same for the most part. It's as though nowadays, one could just slap together a random, common beat and it become a major hit. That irks me, but I still hold onto the possibility of someone accomplishing well done work. That's not to say there's no consummate talent out there, just appears to be a lot of digging left to do.
TRACK LISTING
Beat 4 Da' Streets (Intro)
Hot Like Fire
One In A Million
Girl Like You
If Your Girl Only Knew
Choosey Lover (Old School/New School)
Got To Give It Up
4 Page Letter
Everything's Gonna Be Alright
Giving You More
I Gotcha' Back
Never Givin' Up
Heartbroken
Never Comin' Back
Lady's In Da House
One I Gave My Heart To
Came To Give Love (Outro)
Never Comin' Back
Lady's In Da House
One I Gave My Heart To
Came To Give Love (Outro)
Guess I do have a favorite.
2 comments:
Thank you for this great review. I'm very attached to this album myself for it's blinding brilliance & strikingly rebellious sound. 4 Page Letter is my big crush as well)
Thank you for the reply. This is my first comment here and I do appreciate it very much, never take it for granted.
Yea, this album has a smooth sound all around. I think it can compete with any of today's artists because it remains current, at least to me :)
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