In reply to Mark111.

I usually agree with you, but I can't on this occasion. It's odd that this is happening with an artist I genuine respect and don't care to discredit. Still I'm just stating facts. Bran's first 2 albums ('Brandy' & 'NSN') sold 4 and 5 million respectively in the U.S. That's not only 1 million more than Aaliyah (both her albums only went double plat in the U.S.). Bran's Full Moon was stacked with hits, that could have easily been a multi-platinum seller if she wasn't pregnant. She only released 2 singles off that project. Bran was still very relevant during FM (and she was 23 years of age by then). She best Aaliyah during their run in their charting prime. If Aaliyah was the late bloomer that you believe she was none of that big promise reflected in her BB success near the end. Her death saved that album. Rock the Boat & More Than A Woman were really the only 2 radio-friendly songs on that album (although that doesn't mean that it wasn't a masterpiece) . Those songs from the album weren't so straight forward and Aaliyah didn't have the status to sell using just her name. It would have been hard to promote that cd at that stage of her career. If Aaliyah continued on she might have been able to snag a #1 album (like Mo did with After the Storm in '03) or rack up another hit (like Bran did with What About Us in 2002) down the line, but Aaliyah wouldn't likely be one of today's front runners in music.