Newly-Released Aaliyah And Jay-Z Photos Show The Duo Got 'Cozy' Just One Year Before Her Death
The bittersweet photos were published recently.
Getty Images What do the recently released Aaliyah and Jay-Z photos show?
When Aaliyah Dana Haughton perished unexpectedly in a plane crash back in August 2001, fans of R&B music in particular — and, yes, even music in general — were devastated that such a beautiful, talented, successful rising star could have her light snuffed out so suddenly.
But Aaliyah was not without her controversies, even in her prime.
It bears noting that times were very different in the late 1990s and early 2000s. And so, when word of Aaliyah's 1994 marriage to R. Kelly emerged, fans reacted very differently than they're doing so now.
Just 15 years old at the time of her marriage, Aaliyah would insist that while she and R. Kelly were "close" at the time, she didn't want the press to believe "all that mess," and that people took her relationship with the now-embattled R&B singer "the wrong way."
But he wasn't the only older man she was allegedly "cozy" with. So let's look at what we know about what these new photos of the gorgeous R&B singer and the then-rising rapper show.
1. The Aaliyah and Jay-Z photos showed the duo getting "cozy."
Back over the Fourth of July, 2000, Jay-Z and Aaliyah were at a party together in the tony New York suburb known as The Hamptons. In the photos, Jay-Z is seen cuddling up to the "One In A Million" singer before sharing a bottle of vodka with her. (Sean "P. Diddy" Combs was also in attendance.)
A source who was at the party confirmed that Jay-Z and Aaliyah were "dancing and laughing." At the time, Jay-Z was 30, and Aaliyah was 21, so everyone was well over the age of consent in the state of New York.
2. Damon "Dame" Dash was dating Aaliyah at the time.
While Jay-Z wasn't seeing anyone at the time these newly-emerged photos were taken, Aaliyah was otherwise spoken for. At the time, she was dating Dame Dash (who, incidentally, was at the party and seen in shirtless photos with other women).
3. Dash claims that Jay-Z was trying to "get with" Aaliyah.
There was a time when Dame Dash and Jay-Z were partners in the uber-successful "Roc-A-Fella" brand of urban clothing. Those times, of course, are far behind us. But back in the halcyon days of their partnership, Dash says that his now-erstwhile partner tried to "get with" his girlfriend, romantically.
"I did not know Jay was trying to holler at her, but then it just happened like that. He was trying, I was trying. Everybody was trying — he was going hard," he said. Certainly, these newly discovered pictures show Jay-Z "going hard."
4. There's no evidence Jay-Z and Aaliyah were romantically involved.
Despite Dash's claim that Jay-Z went "hard" in trying to get with Aaliyah romantically, there was no evidence that the duo was romantically involved. The newly-emerged Aaliyah and Jay-Z photos, in fact, only show two people having fun, not necessarily getting "romantic."
5. Jay-Z met Beyoncé not long after he "went hard" for Aaliyah.
If Dash is telling the truth and his former business partner was, indeed, trying to "go hard" for Aaliyah, he was clearly unsuccessful. But it didn't matter anyway because just two years later, Jay-Z appeared as a guest on Beyoncé's song, "03 Bonnie and Clyde," and that kicked off a whirlwind romance that led to the duo becoming Mr. and Mrs. Carter. They now have three children together.
6. But Jay-Z did get with Aaliyah... on a song.
On April 19, 2003, Jay-Z finally did get with Aaliyah... on a song. On that day, he dropped his official remix of her song, "Miss You," which was released after Aaliyah's passing back in 2001.
Though Aaliyah recorded the original song in 1999, her version of the song wasn't released until 2002 after her passing. And, interestingly, Jay-Z makes reference to their time hanging out in The Hamptons in his verses on the remix. He also speaks on his former partner and thinks that he's holding up well, all things considered.
"All we listen to is all the different yous/Four-page letters in addition to/Have you ever loved somebody who used to get the party poppin'?/We used to party-hop, we used to be in the Hamptons, party a lot," he raps.
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, publicist, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more.