In reply to Kashif.

I agree 100%. Aaliyah started to crossover during her One In A Million era. When she came out with "Try Again" and all those other songs from her last album. She was like boiling water she was about to blow up MAJOR! Then she dies, making it effortless for Beyonce to rise to the top. Of course Beyonce's voice now sounds better than Aaliyah's voice then. She was only 22 years old when she died. Had she lived, her voice would've matured the same way Beyonce's did. Listen to Beyonce, Monica, Brandy, etc. back THEN and tell me they don't sound better to listen to NOW! Plus this whole comparison between Aaliyah, Monica and Brandy. Monica and Brandy weren't even on Aaliyah's caliber then. Aaliyah had her own still of singing. She sang that way purposely to portray a certain image, "street but sweet". She didn't need to show all of her skin to be relevant. She didn't have to shake her behind and whip her hair. She was classy. She executed each dance move she ever did with little to know effort. Plus she didn't have to try as hard as Beyonce to be relevant. If Beyonce was as good as everyone makes her out to be, she could drop an album and wait 5-6 years and come back with no problem. Just saying. Don't underestimate the legendary Aaliyah. She paved the way for a lot of the female artists today.