Are You That Somebody

How, you have probably never asked yourself, could the full on sound of US punksoul rockers the Gossip ever bring to mind the sweet RnB stylings of the gone but never forgotten Aaliyah. Well, at a raucous gig I attended last week, said rockers took me on a trip down memory lane with a stripped down version of Aaliyah's classic tune "Are You That Somebody", and served to remind me just what a loss the singer's early death was for the music industry. Of course Aaliyah famously burst onto the urban music scene in 1994 aged just 14 with the massive "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number" album, and so when she died tragically in the summer of 2001, with a string of hit albums, singles and recent movie roles to her name, it was easy to forget that she was only 22 and far from her peak.

A revisit to her back catalogue reminds you of the huge talent lost, and the career collaborations with Timbaland especially provide some of the finest examples of RnB pop around, edgy enough to gain respect from the street, but accessible enough to ride high in the charts. I honestly believe that her influence is still criminally understated, and would urge you to remind yourself of the massiveness of some of her tunes as a matter of urgency. Beginning with "Are You That Somebody" isn't a bad start, even if it does mean digging out that hidden copy of the Dr Doolittle soundtrack to find it.