Songoftheday 1/2/23 - Boy you know you make me float boy you really get me high, I feel like I'm on dope 'cause you, you serve me on a regular...

 

 

"Rock The Boat" - Aaliyah

from the album Aaliyah (2001)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #14 (three weeks)

Weeks in the Top-40: 22

 

Hey folks, the new year is here, and my Song of the day is back! Thanks for being patient during the holiday break, and if you haven't checked out my rundown of the top hit from 2022, you can go through the entire series by clicking here...

 

Today's song comes from the late R&B singer Aaliyah, who had scored the biggest hit of her career with the #1 pop/top ten R&B hit "Try Again" in the summer of 2001. That song was from the soundtrack to the movie Romeo Must Die, which Aaliyah starred in. She also completed work on another film, the Anne Rice vampire flick Queen Of The Damned. So it wouldn't be until the following spring for more music would arrive - the lead single of her self-titled third album, "We Need A Resolution". Despite the Timbaland production and a pretty good song, somehow radio wasn't picking up, and since it wasn't released as a commercial single, it stalled at #59 on Billboard magazine's pop Hot 100 chart (it did climb as high as #13 on their R&B Airplay list). The Aaliyah album, released in July of 2001, did pretty decently, making its debut at #2 on the Billboard 200 sales tally. But they needed to get her back on the radio.

While the record company executives wanted "More Than A Woman", another Timbaland piece, as the follow-up, Aaliyah pushed for the more rhythmic bop "Rock The Boat". Written by Stephen "Static Major" Garrett along with producers Eric Seats and Rapture Stewart, the song uses its groove to power the sexual nature of the song, as she sings what she desires to happen in the bedroom. The production harkens back to the early 80's synth-funk of Mtume and the S.O.S. Band, making the music dominate the repeated lyrics.

Aaliyah and her crew flew to the Bahamas to shoot the video for the single, which was released in mid-August. However, when they insisted on overloading the small charter plane when they were returning early on August 25th, that along with the dubious history of the pilot (which may have been why he gave in to their demands), it caused a horrible tragedy when the plane crashed moments after liftoff, killing everyone on board. An investigation followed, which revealed that Aaliyah didn't want to board (probably listening sensibly to the pilot's warnings), but also the pilot had a history of drug use and wasn't commissioned to fly that plant as it was. It was a horrible situation that probably would've gotten more media coverage if it weren't for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The music video was finished, with after-production still going on after she left, and the result that was supposed to be smooth and sensual ended up being pretty damn sad.

Following her death, the song made its appearance on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, stopping in the top-20 in November of 2001 (it probably would've made it farther if it weren't for the lack of sales points due to no commercial single release), while spending three weeks at #2 on their R&B Singles list. On the radio, the song hit #2 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, #18 on the older-skewing Adult R&B list, and went to #13 on the dance-oriented Rhythmic format, but didn't make the top-75 on the Mainstream Top-40 list (I believe the whole "9/11" thing put some screws in that). Internationally, the single reached the top-40 in Belgium (#9 Wallonia / #43 Flanders), the Netherlands (#12), and the United Kingdom (#12). The Aaliyah album, released in July of that year, rocketed to the top of the Billboard 200 following her death, spending a week there, as well as getting to #2 on the R&B Albums list, going on to sell over two million copies. At the Grammy Awards in 2002, "Rock The Boat" was nominated for Best R&B Female Vocal, losing to Alicia Keys for her breakthrough "Fallin'". The Aaliyah album was also up for Best R&B Album, which again went to Keys for her debut Songs From A Minor. 

Both Aaliyah and the album will return to the series.

(7/10)