Aaliyah

Appropriately for a nice Midwestern girl, the late Aaliyah Haughton occupied the sensible middle ground of R&B divas. When it came to sexual availability, she was between En Vogue maliciously taunting "You're never gonna get it" and Tweet blankly cooing "Oops, there goes my shirt." You might get it, Aaliyah's wary delivery suggested, if the time and place were right, but her clothes weren't about to magically vanish. Her best singles, "Are You That Somebody" and "Try Again," outline the rules a smart but passionate nonvirgin must set to protect herself in an age of sexual free- for- all.

Though her debut was overshadowed by the revelation that her producer, R. Kelly, had married the 15-year- old Chicago-raised starlet, Aaliyah's artistic personality occasionally pokes its nose above Kelly's bland settings. But it wasn't until Timbaland's stuttering beats challenged Aaliyah rather than cushioned her (as Kelly had) that her full personality revealed itself. If more critics had attuned their ears to the smooth, just-ever-so offbeat One in a Million, Missy Elliott's Supa Dupa Fly might have not seemed like such a shock.

The best was yet to come. The Doctor Dolittle soundtrack's "Are You That Somebody?," which placed Aaliyah up against the most idiosyncratic twitch of Timbaland's career, remains one of '90s' R&B's most astounding moments. And Aaliyah's third release was self- titled for a reason. On the ballads, she floats assuredly without drifting off into slow- jam tedium, while her commonsense avoidance of melodrama contrasts nicely with Timbaland's Latin tinges.

By her death at the age of 22 in a private-plane crash, Aaliyah had grown from studio puppet to a powerful R&B archetype — a more self-aware Ronnie Spector for a time that requires more self-awareness of its young adults. Sure, Timbaland sculpted her sound throughout, but Aaliyah imprinted herself upon those beats—as a catalyst, she's equaled only by Missy Elliott herself.

The six new tracks on I Care 4 U—a partial best-of for an artist who deserves a full career overview—add to the impression that Aaliyah's career was just beginning to blossom creatively. And that legacy lives on: According to the U.S. Social Security Administration annual report, Aaliyah was one of the 100 most popular names for newborn girls in 2001. (KEITH HARRIS)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide