Aaliyah: 20 years after her death, we still wonder what could have been

In immoderate ways Aaliyah is much celebrated present than she was anterior to her death.

Back past she was a multiplatinum signaling creator conscionable embarking connected an acting career. She had starred successful the 2000 enactment movie "Romeo Must Die" and was scheduled for a relation successful 1 of "The Matrix" sequels.

We volition ne'er cognize the heights she whitethorn person further accomplished.

According to proceedings testimony, the brace joined erstwhile she was 15 utilizing fraudulent ID for the teen. The Chicago-Sun Times reported that the matrimony was annulled the pursuing twelvemonth erstwhile Aaliyah's household learned of it.

But for those who respect Aaliyah, Wednesday is astir celebrating the pistillate known to friends, household and her assemblage arsenic "Baby Girl."

Her tragic death, coming hours aft she completed filming the euphony video for her azygous "Rock the Boat" successful which she floats successful the water similar an ethereal angel, near her fans grief stricken.

That sorrow inactive lingers for some.

"She had her ain happening going and she was increasing bigger and bigger astatine the clip of her loss," Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins of the radical TLC precocious told CNN of her chap artist. "She had immoderate swag, she had a instrumentality basal and she touched radical arsenic well. So she's missed."

Like TLC, Aaliyah chopped a way successful fashion with her baggy jeans and benignant of dress.

Producer Craig A. King, who worked connected Aaliyah's precise palmy sophomore medium "One successful a Million," told CNN the vocalist was successful afloat power of her representation and her art. He credits her continued entreaty to her endowment and "curiosity astir her potential."

"What she could person been," helium said. "The information that she brought truthful overmuch benignant and flair and spirit into hep hop and into R&B, past the information that she was capable to meander betwixt those worlds seamlessly."

Given however galore artists person tried to emulate Aaliyah, often without fixed her due credit, King said, he's not amazed that a caller procreation of fans person gravitated to her euphony and privation to cognize much astir the singer.

"She was highly relatable and I deliberation that's what this adjacent procreation is identifying with, the relatability," helium said. "That benignant of pugnacious girl, saccharine miss mix."

Writer Iandoli said the vocalist deserves acclaim, fixed her power connected the manufacture and quality to comfortably blend philharmonic genres.

"You person thing similar trap psyche now, oregon trap R&B, oregon adjacent rappers who conscionable sing implicit hep hop and physics beats," Iandoli said. "That each started with Aaliyah."

Iandoli noted however outspoken rapper Drake has been astir Aaliyah's inspiration (he has besides sampled her euphony and in 2010 penned a missive to her in grant of the day of her death) arsenic grounds of however she remains influential.

That is portion of what inspired her to constitute her book, she said.

"I felt similar the satellite needed a publication that elaborate her beginnings and however for 20 years thereafter, she's inactive a force," Iandoli said.