“The word in the hood was, she had a cockeye. Cause she always wore them shades, but the next album came out and it was like, Whoa, she killin it on some real warrior shit. I didn’t see anyone doing what she did. I mean, Britney Spears tried but I laughed at that fuckin video. It was hilarious, yo. I liked that song Britney bit, where Aaliyah had the snake, We Need a Resolution. It was deep.

As far as rappers go she was our pop princess. To be associated with R Kelly in any way at that point in time, that was street credibility. Some people just have that “it” factor, where it doesn’t matter where they’re at, they appeal to both sides. White kids adored her; that’s a hard bridge to cross right there, man, but she had a lot of talent. And when you meet the girl there’s a level of comfortability I can’t even describe. Her and a friend of mine were best friends, so we used to hang out. We went to Universal Studios to a photo booth, you know those little corny sticker pictures? We used to go do stuff like that. I remember watching a home movie of her and her friends portraying the Spice Girls, that was kinda kooky. It was like being around your little sister. It wasn’t Aaliyah the big superstar. It was just Baby Girl.

I’ve always said that a comedian ain’t funny to me if he try too hard to be funny. Same shit with sexy. Aaliyah didn’t have to try hard. She was a total package as far as singing, dancing and entertaining. She was killin all that, and it was a relief to find out she actually ain’t cockeyed. And her moms was mad peace but very stern, remind me of my bougie aunts and shit. Not bougie in a bad way, but you know, boy I ain’t havin it.”

- Method Man