Aaliyah staked her claim on the Billboard charts from the birth of her career. “Back and Forth” — the first single off her first album Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number — skyrocketed to No. 1 on multiple R&B/hip-hop surveys two months after debuting. But it wasn’t until Aaliyah met close friends Missy Elliott and Timbaland that her chart domination spread across the board. In all, Aaliyah totaled four No. 1 titles and 12 top 10s on Billboard’s Nielsen BDS-based Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop radio airplay chart.
Here, Aaliyah’s top ten singles are ranked by peak position on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop (viewable at billboard.bbiz/charts). Ties were broken by the number of weeks spent at peak positions.
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10. “More Than a Woman”
Peak Position: 7
Peak Date: 3/30/02
Weeks On Chart: 18
Aaliyah’s third studio album charted on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop one year after her passing and maintained on the charts weeks after. Her first single was one of the first to peak in the top 10. The Static Major and Timbaland penned track found Aaliyah comfortable in her own skin, taking on all of her
lover’s needs.
9. “If Your Girl Only Knew”
Peak Position: 3
Peak Date: 9/28/96
Weeks On Chart: 20
For her sophomore album, One in a Million, Aaliyah teamed up with Missy Elliott and Timbaland, who ultimately became two of the closest people in Baby Girl’s life. The majority of Aaliyah’s top hits were created alongside Timbaland and Missy, starting with this song from the album known to signal Aaliyah’s newly emerging womanhood.
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8. “At Your Best (You Are Love)”
Peak Position: 3
Peak Date: 9/10/94
Weeks On Chart: 23
The second single off Aaliyah’s debut album, Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number, revamped The Isley Brother’s 1976 hit with Aaliyah’s signature silky vocals and R.Kelly‘s instrumentation. “At Your Best (You Are Love)” caught the most attention by the remix featuring R&B heartthrob R. Kelly (her alleged husband at the time). The video for the R. Kelly rendition of the song featured both two-stepping alongside each other.
7. “I Don’t Wanna”
Peak Position: 3
Peak Date: 3/4/00
Weeks On Chart: 23
This track marked Aaliyah’s third No. 3 hit on Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop. Aaliyah took a different route and recruited Johnta Austin, Jazze Pha, Donnie Scantz, Kevin Hicks to pen and Scantz and Hicks to produce the song. Although featured first in Next Friday in 1999, “I Don’t Wanna” is mostly known for Aaliyah’s 2000 film debut, Romeo Must Die. The soundtrack was co-produced by Aaliyah and contained four songs by her.
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6. “Try Again”
Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 4/29/00
Weeks On Chart: 23
The second single off the Romeo Must Die soundtrack took Aaliyah to another level. “Try Again” became the first song to top the Billboard Hot 100 with the sole strength of radio airplay (it did not have a physical single). “Try Again” was the first video in which we saw Aaliyah exhibit her sensuality, sporting a sexy, gleaming bra and leather pants in a tight choreographed dance number. The song brought Aaliyah a Grammy nod and two MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video and Best Video from a Film in 2000. Timbaland, co-writer and featured in the intro, pays homage to legends Eric B and Rakim by rapping the duo’s opening verse off “I Know You Got Soul.”
5. “Rock the Boat”
Peak Position: 2
Peak Date: 10/27/01
Weeks On Chart: 26
One of the seven of Aaliyah’s longest charted tracks, “Rock the Boat” is bittersweet — although it features Aaliyah’s singing at its best, she passed away in a tragic plane crash when coming home from filming the song’s video. The magic of the track comes from the combination of Aaliyah’s velvety vocals and seductive lyrics. Ironically, the second single off her third studio album was written two years before it’s official release, but not recorded due to the label’s hesitance towards the lyrics, according to VIBE.
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4. “Miss You”
Peak Position: 1 (1 week)
Peak Date: 2/8/03
Weeks On Chart: 26
The unreleased song on Aaliyah’s first posthumously released compilation album I Care 4 U (2002) was Aaiiyah’s third and final No. 1 song. The visuals for the second single from the Billboard 200 No 3. album featured snapshots of Aaliyah’s earlier videos and cameos from her close friends and collaborators, such as DMX, Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Lil Kim and more.
3. “Back and Forth”
Peak Position: 1 (4 weeks)
Peak Date: 6/11/94
Weeks On Chart: 26
Aaliyah’s Billboard chart history began with the first single off her first debut album. “Back and Forth” charted at the No. 1 spot for four weeks. In the laid-back track, penned by R.Kelly, Aaliyah shows she’s not afraid to be anything but herself. In the video, shot in her hometown of Detroit, Aaliyah plays one-on-one with Kellz and brings her real-life high school friends in front of the lens.
2. “Are You That Somebody?”
Peak Position: 1 (7 weeks)
Peak Date: 7/25/98
Weeks On Chart: 26
“Are You That Somebody?,” which appeared on the Dr. Dolittle film soundtrack, effortlessly transitioned Aaliyah into the pop realm. Produced and co-written by Timbaland, the second single off the soundtrack samples D. Train‘s “You’re the One for Me” and Prince‘s “Delirious,” from which the
famous cooing of a baby comes from. “Are You That Somebody?” peaked at No. 6 on the Pop Songs chart on November 21, 1998. The hit resurfaced when Drake showed his adoration for Aaliyah by interpolating a part of the song’s chorus into his verse on Young Money’s Rap Songs No. 1 hit “BedRock.”
1. “One in a Million”
Peak Position: 1 (8 weeks)
Peak Date: 12/28/96
Weeks On Chart: 26
At eight weeks, “One in a Million” marks Aaliyah’s longest reign at No. 1 on
Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop . The title track and second single off her sophomore album was, of course, written and produced by Missy Elliott and Timbaland. The combination of Timbaland’s drum ‘n’ bass-influenced production, Missy’s penmanship and Aaliyah’s vocal arrangement made this track innovative and rapturously atypical. “One in a Million” staked its claim on the chart for 26 weeks.
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