The late great Aaliyah Haughton easily avoided the sophomore slump in late summer 1996 when her album One in a Millon hit record stores. Aaliyah’s label lined her up with some of the hottest producers of the time, including Daryl Simmons, Kay-Gee, Jermaine Dupri, and Rashad Smith. However, her tracks with a then up-and-coming Timbaland truly helped Aliyah find a different sound.
Timbaland produced nine of the album’s seventeen tracks. The time spent working on One in a Millon led to a successful working between the two. A year later, Timbaland and his partner were preparing to release their debut, Welcome to Our World, featuring two appearances from Aaliyah. The first was “Up Jumps da Boogie,” and the second was
“Man Undercover this week’s pick for Slow Jam Saturday.
Toward the end of Welcome to Our World, Timbaland & Magoo provided the listeners with two slow cuts. “Joy” (featuring Ginuwine and Playa) and Aaliyah’s contribution. The track begins with Timbo’s signature drum sound, with Baby Girl and Missy Elliot’s voices lushly blending before Aaliyah croons the first verse.
“I, I, like the way, way, you get down, down
(that’s the way I like it)
You’re the kinda guy
That makes mom feel proud
Don’t have to show you’re the boy, oh
I, I, like you the way that you are
I like my man undercover
Smooth dark brotha
Fly to the bone
You don’t need no fly jeep
To come and scoop me
You can drive what you own
(thats the way I like it)
A man undercover
Smooth black brotha
Fly to the bone
Don’t need no Gucci sweater
To make you look better
You can wear what you own.”
What I’ve always liked about the song is how Aaliyah eludes admiration for her man while avoiding crass lyrics. Toward the end of the track, Timbaland drops back in to drop a few bars. A fan favorite for years, “Man Undercover” is worth a listen if you’ve never heard the song.
“Man Undercover” is available on Timbaland & Magoo’s Welcome To Our World and Ultimate Aaliyah on all streaming platforms
This week’s Second Listen Sunday pick takes us back to 2006 to revisit “So Amazin’,” the third album from Christina Milian. Arriving in stores on April 19 of that year, the project was produced largely by Cool & Dre, sans one song, and saw the singer earn writing credits on nine of the album’s songs.
For this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I want to showcase love for Rahsaan Patterson and his album track “Can We Wait a Minute” from his self-titled debut album, released in 1997.
For this week’s Second Listen Sunday, I wanted to take a trip back to 2000 and show some love to the R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo and their third album, “X,” which was released in stores on December 5, just in time for a holiday stocking stuffer. Arguably, the group suffered from the sophomore slump with their second album, as only two singles were successful.