What is somewhat disturbing, however, is that in the world of hiphop and r & b there seems to be a trend for an artist, particularly a newer artist, to release a CD with several different producers taking turns producing tracks. As a result the CD doesn't sound like an artist's project; it sounds more like a producer's compilation CD. The artist, singer, whatever, functions as eye candy, walking point on the project while each producer takes a turn. Unless the artist develops some charisma of their own they become expendable.

We are never going to know if Aaliyah had the chops to move out front and center. There is no question that she had the physical appeal (her turn in Romeo Must Die demonstrates one reason why DVD remotes are designed to be operated with one hand). As a vocalist, however, she is...well, with all the layers of production, we really don't know. While her self-titled debut is currently riding the top of the charts, this envious event occurred only after her death and was no doubt fueled by that event. This phenomenon is not new at all; none of Otis Redding's brilliant stylings crashed the Top 10 until his own, similar death. And then of course, there's uh, Jim Croce, who, although fairly popular prior to his demise, would have probably been consigned to the trivia books with a listing following Bread and preceding Styx had he not met a premature demise.

So let's turn to the CD and forget all of the hype and all of the publicity generated by a tragic event. Taken as individual tracks by individual producers, as a showcase, rather than as the presentation of a particular artist, AALIYAH is as good as anything that is out there in the genre. A particular standout is "Rock the Boat" a steamy number that will put your rear window defogger into overdrive. There are also a couple of tracks dealing with the eternal difficulties between men and women ("We Need a Resolution," "Read Between the Lines," "U Got Nerve," "Those Were the Days"), men who think they are all that ("Extra Smooth") and even domestic violence ("Never No More"). "What If," the final listed track on AALIYAH, even features a bit of Prince-style guitar; I can remember a time when virtually every r& b record released seemed to be influenced in some way by him. And that was a good thing, as it is here, in this angry little track about a hypocritical guy cheating on his woman but wanting to know where she is and what she's doing every minute.

Taken individually, there is not a weak track on AALIYAH. The problem, ultimately, is that after listening to the CD repeatedly, you're not going to be any closer to knowing who this young lady was, or the extent of her talent, than you were before you opened it up. She ultimately was used as a commodity. This is not unusual in the music world, where most artists follow a familiar, comet-like arc (if they ever make it into the atmosphere at all) and quickly outlive their usefulness. What is unfortunate, however, is the exploitation of her death by everyone from the media to Reverend Al Sharpton. Such has it always been.