Aaliyah 's vocals are in a restrained soprano style throughout the album . '' Vibe '' magazine 's Hyun Kim argued that its songs draw focus to her singing more than her previous records , " bringing it to the forefront as opposed to hiding it behind the layered production " . " Rock the Boat " was sung with breathless vocals by Aaliyah , who instructs her lover on how to please her sexually and equates her erotic high to a drug high . Ballads such as " I Care 4 U " , " Never No More " , and " I Refuse " are sung more emotively , expressing melancholy qualities and hurt . On " I Can Be " , Aaliyah sings from the perspective of an adulterous man 's mistress who wants to be his foremost girlfriend . Alex Macpherson from '' The Guardian '' wrote that " Aaliyah 's blank , numbed delivery " on the song " makes being the other woman seem like an emotionally masochistic form of self-medication " . Biographer Christopher John Farley said she " emotionally detailed a song " unlike on her previous albums and that " her gentle voice now seemed like something elemental , a kindly wind blowing through the branches of a big tree . " According to Joshua Clover , Aaliyah pushes musical notes " into strange corners of syncopation 's shifty architecture " on the more " shape-defying " tracks . He wrote that " she makes the sonics tell the story , creating meaning outside the lyrics , pleasure beyond the hooks . " '' Aaliyah '' was released in July 2001 . In the United States , it debuted at number two on the '' Billboard '' 200 albums chart , selling 187,000 copies in the week of August 4 . Although it was the highest sales week of Aaliyah 's career , the album initially sold slower than her previous record , '' One in a Million '' . The singer planned to embark on the largest concert tour of her career to support the album , while Blackground and Virgin — heavily invested in the record 's success — wanted a single with a high chart placement to help increase sales . " We Need a Resolution " had been released as the lead single on April 13 , but did not receive significant radio airplay and only reached number fifty-nine on the '' Billboard '' Hot 100 . In August , Aaliyah shot a music video for " More Than a Woman " in Los Angeles and then travelled to the Bahamas to shoot a video for " Rock the Boat " . But after its completion , she and several crew members who were returning to the US died in a plane crash on August 25 . Blackground executives were uncertain when they would release the album 's next single and video
died in a plane crash
Death of Aaliyah
Aaliyah (album)