One in a Million (Aaliyah album)



One in a Million is the second studio album by American R&B recording artist Aaliyah, first released on August 27, 1996 by Blackground Records and Atlantic Records. The album was recorded from August 1995 to July 1996 with a variety of producers including Timbaland, Missy Elliott, Carl-So-Lowe, J. Dibbs, Jermaine Dupri, Kay Gee, Vincent Herbert, Rodney Jerkins, Craig King, Darren Lighty, and Darryl Simmons. The album featured several guest vocalists, including Missy Elliott, Timbaland, Treach, Slick Rick, and Tank.

One in a Million was well received by most critics, including Rolling Stone, who named it the 90th best album of the 1990s. It was also listed as one of 33 hip hop/R&B albums in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the '90s". One in a Million debuted at twenty on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 40,500 copies in its opening week; twenty-two weeks later the album peaked at eighteen, being certified Gold by RIAA. Within a few months, the album proved Aaliyah's breakthrough and a major milestone in the careers of Missy Elliott and Timbaland. It was certified double Platinum on June 16, 1997. The album was also certified Gold by the Canadian recording industry for shipments of 50,000 copies. One in a Million has sold over three million copies in the United States and 8 million copies worldwide.

The album produced six singles, "If Your Girl Only Knew", "One in a Million", "Got to Give It Up", "4 Page Letter", "Hot Like Fire", and "The One I Gave My Heart To", with the last becoming the album's highest-charting single, peaking at nine on the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2004, the album was re-released in Germany with altered artwork, and again in 2006. The disc is copy-protected, and therefore will not show up when placed in some PCs, but it will show up when inserted into a Mac, and it will play in most CD players. It included the standard 17 tracks, plus the bonus song "Come Over".

Production
One in a Million was recorded from August 1995 to July 1996. Missy Elliott and Timbaland wrote and produced the majority of the album. Other producers included Rodney Jerkins, Jermaine Dupri, and Kay Gee. The album was executive produced by Barry Hankerson and Jomo Hankerson. 57 songs were recorded for the album, but a majority of them were cut from the final track list. One of those tracks included the song, "Sugar & Spice", the first track Aaliyah did with Timbaland & Missy Elliott; however due to label disagreements with the song, it never made the final track list of the album. On October 8, 2010, a rare demo version of the song performed by 1990s R&B group, Sugah (which included notable R&B singer, Tweet) was leaked; reports have also surfaced that the track may have also been used as a sample for another R&B group, Tha' Truth, for their 1997 song, "Candy". Another track that was going to be included on the album was "I Care 4 U", but wasn't completed in time for mastering. It was later included on Aaliyah's third studio album, Aaliyah.

Singles
"If Your Girl Only Knew" was released as the album's lead single in August 1996, it peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending October 19, 1996, becoming her third single to reach the top 20. It reached the top of the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart for two weeks. "If Your Girl Only Knew" was also a hit in the UK, peaking in the top thirty of the UK Singles Chart at number 21 when it was originally released by itself. It was re-issued with "One in a Million" as a double A-side and reached a new peak position of number 15. The album's second single "One in a Million" was released December 10, 1996, the song was a top twenty hit in the UK, reaching number fifteen. "4 Page Letter" was released as the album third single on March 11, 1997. "Hot Like Fire and "The One I Gave My Heart To" were released simultaneously on September 16, 1997. Hot Like Fire charted poorly unlike "The One I Gave My Heart To" which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue week of October 4, 1997 at number 24 and went on to peak at number 9, making it the highest-charting single from the album. In the same issue week, the song debuted on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at number 18 and went on to peak at number 7. The song was certified Gold by the RIAA on October 21, 1997.

Critical reception
In her review for Vibe magazine, music critic Dream Hampton said that Aaliyah's "deliciously feline" voice has the same "pop appeal" as Janet Jackson's and is complemented by the producers' funky, coherent tracks. Connie Johnson of the Los Angeles Times found the album's material exceptional, including the "teasingly witchy" "If Your Girl Only Knew". Q magazine said that, with "her smooth, sweetly seductive vocal firmly to the fore, [Aaliyah] works through a set of predominantly slow and steamy swingbeat numbers, all clipped beats, luxurious melodies and dreamy harmonies". Robert Christgau, writing in The Village Voice, was less enthusiastic and cited only "Got to Give It Up" as a "choice cut", indicating "a good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money". Sputnikmusic's Nick Butler deemed it a "strange" record with an overemphasis on "unusually good" and "occasionally brilliant" ballads but plagued by upbeat tracks that were not on-par, except "Hot Like Fire".

In a retrospective review, Slant Magazine said One in a Million was "undoubtedly one of the most influential R&B albums of the '90s," and credited it for establishing "Aaliyah and the Timbo family as undeniable hip-hop forces." Allmusic viewed it as a significant improvement over her debut album with "greater variety of material" and producers, and called Aaliyah's voice "smoother, more seductive, and stronger than before". The album was ranked number 90 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest albums of the 90s. It was also listed as one of 33 Hip hop/R&B albums in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90s".

Commercial performance
It was an international success for the Contemporary R&B genre, with worldwide sales being 8 million copies as of 2008. The album debuted at number 20 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 40,500 copies in its first week. In the Christmas week of 1996 the album peaked at number 18 selling 71,000 copies. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA on October 23, 1996; over 500,000 copies shipments. On February 5, 1997, the album was certified Platinum for shipments of over 1,000,000 units; making it, at the time, her second platinum album. On June 16, 1997, the album was certified 2× Platinum, with more than 2 million copies shipments. It sold 1.1 million copies in 1997. After Aaliyah's death, One in a Million returned to the Billboard 200, and US. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. During this time the album also topped the Top Catalog Albums for 12 weeks. One in a Million has sold 3 million copies in the US and an extra 756,000 units through BMG Music club, Nielsen SoundScan does not count albums sold through clubs like the BMG Music Service, which were significantly popular in the 1990s.

Track listing
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 * Notes and sample credits
 * "A Girl Like You" contains a sample from "Summer Madness" by Kool & the Gang.
 * "Heartbroken" contains a sample from "Inside My Love" by Minnie Riperton.

Certifications

 * * The album has sold 3 million copies in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan, which does not count albums sold through clubs like the BMG Music, where she sold 756,000. Combined, it has sold over 3,756,000 copies in the US.

Personnel

 * Paulinho da Costa – percussion
 * Executive producer: Barry Hankerson
 * Labels: Blackground Records and Atlantic Records (for Warner Bros. Records)
 * Aaliyah's Manager: Barry Hankerson for Aaliyah Entertainment (AE)