​I don't know how I learned that Whitney Houston's birthday was August 9th when I was little, but I'm sure my obsession with her lead to that revelation. I was so infatuated with her, that I'd get in trouble at school for writing her name on my textbooks and talking about her during tutoring sessions. Such minor infractions, right? The teacher in question used to shade me a lot in class too; she clearly had a vendetta, haha. Anyway, I'd always brag to people that Whitney's birthday was the day before mine. In my mind, that made us connected in a special way.
 
To celebrate Whitney's life and discography today, here's a lovely photo motion video below from Brandon Wiggins and Houston aficionado Jamaal D. Pittman. Pittman hilariously voiced Houston in the divalicious web-series, Got to Be Real. Houston would have been 54.
 
#WhitneyForever 

Every year on or around January 16th and August 25th, I usually do something to commemorate the life of R&B singer Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash in 2001. Since I’ve had this blog, I’ve written tribute pieces, trying to describe and relay to my audience why Aaliyah was so important to music, to me and why losing her still impacts me to this day, but it seems there are never enough words to fully convey it. For those who adore and appreciate her as I do, I need not explain, but there are many who the significance is lost upon (for various reasons). These people were once again mystified when there was such a strong reaction to news of the production and casting of an Aaliyah biopic on the Lifetime network.

For years, there were stirrings that some form of a film was in the making. Fans were split about whether or not a movie should happen. Some were flat-out against the idea, saying “let her rest.” Others formed their opinion based on how Aaliyah’s family felt (the latest statement was given by Aaliyah’s cousin and record label associate, Jomo Hankerson, who said the desire was for a major studio release, not a TV movie). The remaining portion of her followers were adamant about seeing Aaliyah’s story onscreen, but only if it was done “right:” a non-salacious and quality script, brilliant actors with close-enough likeness and involvement with her family and/or close friends, like her primary creative partners, Missy Elliott and Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley. A similar reactionary effect would occur anytime there were rumors of posthumous music. Hankerson ceased development of an alleged duet album produced by Drake and Noah “40” Shebib that would pair Aaliyah’s unreleased vocals with various artists after a backlash from fans and disapproval from her immediate family. Despite Drake making his adulation for Aaliyah extraordinarily known, fans just weren’t comfortable with anyone touching her music but Elliott and Mosley. To put it lightly, there was a less-than-enthusiastic response in June to 17-year-old Disney star Zendaya Coleman being cast as Aaliyah for the Lifetime project, with complaints that she may not have the acting chops, didn’t resemble Aaliyah enough and wasn’t the proper race even (Coleman is half black and half white). Let me just say, though I didn’t think Coleman was the best fit, she is a very talented young lady and claiming that she isn’t “black enough” because of part of her lineage and sending her hate messages is divisive, ignorant and cruel. Now, back to our regularly scheduled program…showing how guarding of the Aaliyah brand Zendaya is herself as a fellow devotee, she pulled out of the film, stating “…the production value wasn’t there, there were complications with the music rights, and I just felt like it wasn’t being handled delicately considering the situation…I tried my best to reach out to the family on my own and I wrote a letter, but I was unable to do so, therefore, I felt not really morally okay with moving forward with the project.”

Why is it all such a big deal? Why are we so protective when it comes to all things Aaliyah? We have different ideas on how things should be handled posthumously, but it’s all for the same reason. It’s because her story is unfinished. We got 2 fantastic albums that left us terribly yearning for another. When Aaliyah took a hiatus to reportedly finish school (she was really a teenager, huh?), many begged “When are you coming back?!” There was so much excitement about the things to come (which included a budding acting career) once there was buzz she had returned to the studio. We were eager to be reunited with our princess, our “cool older sister,” our BFF in our heads. We were granted with a simply timeless self-titled record after 5 years in July 2001, but just 39 days later, Aaliyah died. She was only 22….22. Her style and musical contributions to the history of R&B are indelible and iconized (a little more on that in a moment), but there’s a heartbreaking sense of unfulfillment because we knew the carving in the wood would’ve been driven even deeper. That’s why there are dozens of articles from magazines and blogs hypothesizing how our musical lives would’ve changed or been enhanced had she lived. In “Rock&Rant: Hip-Hop Killed R&B,” I suggested that R&B lost its identity while meshing with hip-hop.  Considering that Aaliyah was 1 of the pioneering figures in R&B’s hip-hop merger, could the influence of her ever-novel work with Missy and Timbaland have kept the genre from going off-course? We knew what she was, we knew what we had and we wanted the world outside of our own to see it, and since Aaliyah is not here to execute that dream, we circumspectly appraise anyone (or anything) that attempts to do it for her. We don’t want her narrative and definition to be altered or presented in a way that is not true to her essence.

By Jamaal D. Pittman, contributing writer

If you were around during the 80s and 90s, you would be hard-pressed to name a Whitney Houston hit that wasn’t associated with a life memory. She not only possessed a once-in-a-lifetime voice, but her songs are unforgettable and a part of the soundtrack of our lives. Whitney was exceptionally beautiful, poised and confident; part of a generation of pure talent who didn’t need flashy lights and intricate choreography to keep you transfixed. Her mezzo-soprano voice, impeccable stage presence and strong catalog of hits did all of her heavy lifting. If there was ever a gold standard for what a diva was supposed to be, Whitney Houston was it.

I wasn’t just your average fan. Long before Eminem coined the moniker, I was a Whitney “stan” and proud of it. From the time I was in middle school, I was a walking human encyclopedia of all things Whitney. I could easily rattle off her Billboard chart history and list of awards. I knew the lyrics of little-known album cuts like “Love is a Contact Sport” and “Thinking About You” just as well as classics like “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)” and “I Will Always Love You.” It was nothing for me to throw in random Whitney-isms while singing along to other people’s songs, complete with her signature register changes, lightning-fast runs and “My Lord’s.” I even portrayed her on the hit web-series Got 2B Real. Musically speaking, she was and continues to be my everything. In this contest, there is no second-place prize.

Her legacy is undeniable. Every female singer who hit the scene after her was labeled the “next Whitney Houston,” and as much as it was an honor in a sense, these bold proclamations also annoyed and perplexed me. Sure, on one hand the comparisons reminded us that she was the benchmark, but on the other, they seemed to take her inimitable gifts for granted, suggesting that it wouldn’t take much for another of her kind to emerge. The irony of this—and one of the things that made her so special—is the fact that she was never trying to be the next anyone. She simply wanted to sing and touch people’s lives with her music and she did it better than anyone who ever stood behind a microphone.

So, the devastation I felt on the night she passed was undeniable and inescapable. Looking at the scrolling news tickers on the cable news networks, I couldn’t accept the finality of the end date affixed to the timeline of her incredible life. The fact that the words “Whitney Houston” and “dead” appeared side-by-side seemed like a cruel joke, especially as she had just wrapped production on the film Sparkle and was gearing up for a major comeback. 
Her death absolutely gutted me. A full year later, it still hurts. In a 1988 hit, she asked us a hauntingly enigmatic question: Where do broken hearts go? Just about every day since February 11, 2012, I’ve wished like hell that I had the answer. But I am certain of a few things: She is missed. She is loved. And she will never be forgotten as one of the greatest singers the world has ever known. 

May she rest in peace.

When it comes to Whitney's music, most refer to her classic and effortlessly sung ballads. I do as well, but my all-time personal favorites, the ones attached to cherished moments and feelings in my life, are the ones that brought the funk and edge. Yes, Whitney has funk and edge in her catalog. Below are 9 of my hand-picked cuts and why I adore them so much. As I felt with the passing of Michael Jackson, I felt I lost a piece of my childhood when Whitney died. It all seems like a bad dream that shouldn't be a reality. I always shake my head when thought that she's gone comes to me. It just doesn't seem right. When I saw Yolanda Adams performing "Count On Me" with CeCe Winans at the Grammy's tribute special, "We Will Always Love You" in 2012, it really hit home. Just to hear someone else in her place for that duet...it broke my heart, to say the least. It's all still so hard to accept and I don't know if I ever will. Please continue to keep her family and friends in your thoughts and prayers, as well as all of our other beloved entertainers who have to cope with everyday-life struggles under the lights.

Below is a gallery of some my favorite Aaliyah photos. Share your favorite photos by either commenting on this article & including a link, OR by posting a photo on the JSaysOnline Facebook wall. Also, feel free to comment here to share your memories or list your favorite songs. My favorite album is the last self-titled one, and my favorite song-HANDS DOWN- is "I Don't Wanna" (soundtrack single). It always makes me smile and I can listen to it over and over. See last year's tribute here.