While Missy and Tim became two of the most reliable hip-hop and R&B hitmakers of the next decade, they were relative unknowns at the time.

Sean вЂњPuffyвЂќ Combs doesnвЂ™t show up on One In a Million, and Dupri only grabs writing and production credit on one song, the sinewy yet skippable G-funk slow jam вЂњI Gotcha Back.вЂќ The stars of the show are Missy and Timbaland, who collaborated on about half the tracks and gave the LP its future-freaky sonic palette. вЂњWe were coming off of a multi-platinum debut album and except for a couple of relationships with Jermaine Dupri and Puffy, it was hard for us to get producers on the album.вЂќ вЂњThatвЂ™s what made the transition to the second album difficult,вЂќ Hankerson said in a 2014 radio interview. Details of their illegal union remain sketchy, but Aaliyah was just 15 at the time, and according to her cousin Jomo Hankerson, an exec at Blackground Records, the industry вЂњvillainizedвЂќ the singer for her affair.

Plus, Aaliyah had recently split from producer and mentor R. Although sheвЂ™d scored two top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100В with her 1994 debut, Age AinвЂ™t Nothing But a Number, neither the pleasantly bumping вЂњBack & ForthвЂќ nor the forgettable ballad вЂњAt Your Best (You Are Love)вЂќ sounded especially alien on pop radio. Going into One In a Million, Aaliyah hardly seemed destined for the crown. The вЂњnew world of funkвЂќ lives on without its queen, who died in an August 2001 plane crash at the age of 22.

Every rapper is a singer (and vice-versa), and beats are made to hypnotize, not hype you up. In 1994, Aaliyah Went вЂForthвЂ™ and ConqueredДЄs One In a Million celebrates its 20th anniversary - it arrived on Augthat dream is the reality for much of pop music.

Aaliyah 1 in a million album