Aaliyah is one of her generation’s most revered R&B stars, but the bulk of her catalog has been unavailable on streaming services or digital retailers for many years. Today, that finally started to change with the reissue of her 1996 album, One In A Million. The 18-track project includes features from Tavarius Polk, Treach, Slick Rick, and her close collaborators Missy Elliott and Timbaland, who wrote and produced the majority of the project.
One In A Million debuted at No. 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, but would eventually go 2x Platinum and produce hits like “The One I Gave My Heart To” (No. 9) and “If Your Girl Only Knew” (No. 11). It proved to be a pivotal moment for Aaliyah’s career, providing her with a commercial and critical reboot and springboarding her into the release major hits like “Are You That Somebody?” and “Try Again.”
One In A Million is the first of several Aaliyah reissues that her former label BlackGround Records has planned through the end of the year, and arrives after over a decade of contentious behind-the-scenes fighting between the label and her estate following her tragic death in a plane crash in 2001. Her self-titled album, the Romeo Must Die soundtrack, and a pair of greatest hits compilations are all set to drop by the end of October.
