Choreographer Aakomon Jones Talks About Working With Aaliyah

Q: How did you first hook up with Aaliyah?

AJ: I first hooked up with Aaliyah around her last album. I was the assistant choreographer for “We Need A Resolution”, “More Than A Woman”, and “Rock the Boat”. Fatima was of course the lead choreographer.

Q: Where you excited to work with Aaliyah?

AJ: First and foremost I was a huge fan of Aaliyah’s. Watching the way Aaliyah and Fatima put their choreography together was always phenomenal. So to work with Fatima and Aaliyah was a dream.

Q: What was it like working with Aaliyah?

AJ: Aaliyah was a pleasure to work with. Aaliyah was ever the perfectionist. She always showed up on time ready and willing to learn routines even if we totally changed the direction of the choreography. For instance, when we were creating choreography for the “Rock The Boat” video we must have gone through 5 different instances of Asian, Indian, South American dance styles. Aaliyah never complained once. She was willing to change and explore with me and Fatima until we got everything right. Like I said, ever the perfectionist.

Q: Can you give us any off hand stories about Aaliyah?

AJ: Aaliyah always found time to enjoy herself while working. I can tell you about are good times we had going out to lunch after a long day of routines and rehearsals.  Even though we were at times working 12 to 13 hour days Aaliyah and her crew found time to laugh. She was a real practical joker.  

How Aaliyah Chose The Direction of The "Aaliyah" Album

DIRECTION

Aaliyah was never a stranger to trying experimenting with new sounds. On her second album “One In A Million”, she, with assistance from Timbaland, Missy Elliott, was able to revolutionize R&B by creating a new sound. The double stuttering Timbaland beats that everyone loves today were one of the most monumental and innovative moments in R&B history because it was totally different from anything out at that time. Two years later, Aaliyah and Timbaland shocked the music world once again by bringing in the infamous crying baby sample on the song “Are You That Somebody?” So it was pretty much a good assumption that Aaliyah was going to come with something different this time around.

Tank: “She told me specifically what kind of records she wanted, and she kind of wanted a little dangerous, a little sexy, that type of thing. I got to go in the studio and tailor make something for her, that was amazing that she called me from way overseas like ‘Tank, I need these kinds of records, I know you can write them for me.’ And I was happy that I was able to deliver, that they were records that she actually loved them when she recorded them, she did her thing.”

Digital Black: “We were blessed to be able to tailor make songs and basically just knowing the person and being around the person. We know what they’re thinking and what they like. In the studio, she was like a sponge. Whatever we had to do, it was never ‘I don’t like that’ and I’m still there were times she felt like that but she chose to at least try it. It was just like working with a family member.”

Bud’da: “We were trying to do as much as we could and try to put an album together for her to be able to hear and see what she felt. It was amazing. Static and Aaliyah fit like a glove together. They fit like a glove to where once she got on it, it wasn’t exactly the way you remembered it when Static would do it, she would put her own touch on it and it would work. All of the songs came from Static’s writing, but both he and Aaliyah had been talking about direction on where she wanted to go, and she talked with me about direction on vibe and the sound she wanted it to be.”

Rapture: “We had sat down with her and she was like ‘Okay, I know you guys have worked with Destiny’s Child, all I ask is while you guys do my album, before we go elsewhere and out and work on other things, I would like you to inclusively work on my project right now’ because she wanted to make sure it was a classic record.”

Here is an interview. Look: She was already called “R&B QUEEN”

Aaliyah: A Song In Her Heart

September 2, 2001 | By Michele Salcedo (Staff Writer)

Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas.

Singing, singing. Always singing.

That’s how people who worked with Aaliyah remember her that Saturday, the day she died. Lip-syncing while shooting the video. Singing between takes. Singing on the way to the airport to catch the charter plane for Opa-locka Airport. The schedule had originally called for Aaliyah and her crew to leave Saturday afternoon. But the taping for the video was a bit behind schedule, and the transportation coordinator changed the reservation they had with Sky Limo to pick up 20 people to the next day, Sunday.

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#Article about #Aaliyah

“I wanted to give it my all and take some chances" ~ Aaliyah on her second LP, One In a Million.

~/•\~ Aaliyah in genius Eric Jhonson shoot for #WaxPoeticsJapan #Issue39 Don’t miss it! 😍👑

"… and Aaliyah, who establishes herself, with impressive One in a Million, as the forerunner. Plus, somebody’s got to fulfill our fantasies as we go into the 21st century. Aaliyah may just be the one." 

- VIBE (October 1996)

LaShawn Shellman from the Devante Swing’s “Basement Crew” and an original member of the group “Sista” talks about hanging with Aaliyah

So did you ever meet Aaliyah and how was it like hanging with her?

I went to certain projects with Missy, and from there I met Aaliyah. What I remember...