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Playing Juliet
06/16/2000 2:00 AM, Yahoo! Music
Jeff Lorez
The night of R&B crooner Joe's record release party, Aaliyah breezes into New York's Club Exit, sporting a tan suede jacket, a luminous smile, and a '70s Farah Fawcett mane of shiny black hair (with red tips), surrounded by an entourage from her label, Blackground Entertainment. Heads turn, cameras flash, and microphones catch her every word. This is celebritydom, baby, and 22-year-old Aaliyah is basking in it, easily maneuvering herself into the major leagues. No longer just the cutie-pie R&B singer with hip videos and futuristic beats, after successfully co-starring with martial arts whiz Jet Li in her first feature film, Romeo Must Die (her Timbaland-produced "Try Again" is the soundtrack's runaway smash single), Aaliyah is fast becoming a bona fide megastar.
"I went to Warner Bros. to read for other projects and they said that Romeo was in the works," explains the soft-spoken Aaliyah, speaking on from her L.A. hotel room a month or so after the Joe party. "When they said Jet was in it, I wanted it right away. I did a screen test and got the part. It wasn't written specifically for me, but when they put me in they were like, 'We want you to be comfortable with [Aaliyah's character in the film] Trish.' So I helped out with the wardrobe and picked out things that I would wear, which was cool."
Considering that, unlike R&B singer/ actress Brandy, Aaliyah didn't have a sitcom on her showbiz résumé, her sudden jump from the recording studio to the big screen came as shock to most. Despite her experience attending a high school for the performing arts and, more recently, 18 months' worth of acting lessons, it was still a mighty leap for her to make. Her success in Romeo has lead to a role in an upcoming vampire flick, Queen (which, Aaliyah says regrettably, the studio has ordered her not discuss). She assures, however, that her thespian pursuits will not cause her music to be bumped to the back burner.
"Music still comes first," she states flatly. "In fact, right now I'm in the middle of recording my new album with Timbaland. We had to take a break for the film and then to do the soundtrack. We've recorded a lot of songs, of which probably only four or five will make it. I'm trying to get it finished by the end of the summer. It's going to be a very upbeat album--very few ballads. Missy [Elliott] will definitely have some songs on there, and the guys from Playa, who are also in the camp. They did the song 'Try Again,' and 'Are You That Somebody' from the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack."
It's been six years of nonstop work for Aaliyah, who was born in Brooklyn, raised in Michigan, and now calls Manhattan home. Her debut album on Blackground/ Jive, Age Ain't Nothin' But A Number--produced by her former mentor R. Kelly and containing the hits "Back And Forth" and "At Your Best (You Are Love)"--set the ball rolling back in '94. (Aaliyah and Kelly parted ways amid controversy stemming from Vibe magazine's printing of a marriage certificate that allegedly proved that the two had wed when Aaliyah was only 16; Aaliyah subsequently left Jive Records, and has had nothing to do with Kelly since). Her career went into overdrive with her groundbreaking sophomore set, One In A Million on Blackground/ Atlantic, which teamed her up with the then-fledgling writing team of Missy Elliot and Tim "Timbaland" Mosley. Their unique brand of smoothed-out R&B over trippy, stuttered hip-hop beats redefined the sound of urban America, and spawned a slew of imitators. Hits such as "One In A Million" and "Hot Like Fire," not to mention the aforementioned anthem "Are You That Somebody," cemented Aaliyah's image as the midriff-baring street-but-sweet R&B icon who, along with her producers, set the pulse of black radio. "Try Again" from Romeo Must Die has helped Aaliyah and company continue to dominate the R&B genre between albums.
"When I first heard that track, I went nuts for it!" Aaliyah says enthusiastically of "Try Again." "I felt all the sounds and the beats. When it came time for me to do my verses, I was basically dancing while I was singing. That comes across on the melody. If you're feeling it, then everyone will feel it."
Although Aaliyah doesn't write her own lyrics, she's adamant that they suit her personality. "Lyrically, I want things to be different," she stresses. "Very deep. I love deep songs. I admire Stevie Wonder, because he's someone that can take a love song and really put you in a whole 'nother place. I want to touch everybody. I think I'm a sweet person, very laid-back, but I'm also very complex. I want my music and the work that I do to stress that. It can't be one-dimensional."
Her depth was put to the challenge during the filming of Romeo Must Die. One scene in particular stands out: "When I had to do my crying scene--man! I had to deal with a lot of pain and emotion to bring the tears up," she recalls. "That was the most intimidating part of the whole script. My grandmother passed two years ago, and I was very close with her, so I thought about her a lot, and other painful moments in my life. It was a very depressing, draining day. When I see it now, it's very rewarding to know that I actually did cry."
Conversely, Romeo also allowed Aaliyah (who names Glenn Close and Al Pacino as her favorite actors) to draw inspiration from one of her onscreen heroines. "I like the character of Trinity [from The Matrix]. I think any girl would have loved that. I had my little Matrix move which I was very excited about!" she laughs. "I had to train for a month just for that, because I didn't want to use a stunt double. My flexibility helped, and I picked up the choreography easily. But getting used to the harness to walk up the side of the truck was the hardest part."
Aside from the tears and stunt work, the character of Trish was one Aaliyah feels she portrayed so well because, ultimately, it wasn't too much of a stretch. "We're similar in almost every way," she admits. "She's edgy, she loves her family, and that's what motivates her. I'm exactly like that. She's a little quicker to speak her mind than me. I'm generally very reserved, and very sweet. One thing about me is that I work hard, and I'm a hell of a perfectionist. I will go in a redo vocals three or four times over."
Aaliyah doesn't really seem like a New Yorker. The fast pace and brashness of the city and many of its famously brusque inhabitants seems dramatically at odds with her mellow and sweet demeanor. Is she aware of this contrast? "I love New York," Aaliyah responds immediately. "I'm really happy. It allows me to do what I want to do. I mean, basically, I'm a homebody. I go to the movies or play laser-tag or go bowling. But then I also like to dance. I wanna take salsa classes when I get back to New York. I don't wanna go to a [salsa] club and get out there [on the dance floor] and not be able to really dance."
But Aaliyah's salsa dancing ambitions may well have to be put on hold for the foreseeable future, as her next year has already been mapped out. After completing her new album, she'll fly off to Australia to shoot her forthcoming film, and upon her return, she'll go straight into the promotion of her new album, the first single of which is expected by the year's end. It will all culminate in her largest tour yet, starting next summer.
"Touring is always the most fun part," says Aaliyah, who has been performing live since her first album was released when she was 15 years old. "On the second tour, compared to the first, I was more comfortable onstage. I had a better idea of what I wanted with the sets. The next tour is really going to be mind-blowing! I know exactly what I want to do. The older I get, the more in control I am. Janet [Jackson]'s shows, Michael Jackson's shows, are what you really have to aim for. They're onstage for an hour-and-a-half, two hours. But you never get bored, because the show is constantly changing. I know what I have to do. I just can't wait to get out there and do it!"
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