One in a Million
She has already jammed with Gladys Knight in Las Vegas, eloped with influential R&B; mogul R. Kelly, and scored two platinum albums--and she's just barely graduated from high school. No, she is not your average teenager, nor is she just another pretty soul singer. OnOne in a Million, Aaliyah expands on the smooth grooves of her massively successful debut albumAge Ain't Nothing but a Number, and shows that all the life experiences have not gone to waste. The production and songwriting talents of Tim 'Timbaland' Mosley and rapper Missy Elliot give the songs onOne In A Milliona seductive edge with laidback grooves and cool hip-hop licks; but what really makes this album rise above is the full-grown singer at the controls. On the title track, a magical ballad, Aaliyah casts a cool spell with layered voices and a smoky delivery. With the assistance of Slick Rick, she turns Marvin Gaye's "Got To Give It Up" into a funky hip-hop jam for the end of the millennium. While with "4 Page Letter," one of the album's high points, she intricately details the end of love affair. Artists twice her age could only hope to create a work of such clarity and resonance.--Aidin Vaziri