An untimely death can be a seeminglydirect end to a successful music career. However with artists likeAaliyah, Left Eye, Jam Master Jay, Big Punisher, Notorious BIG and TupacShakur, this proves untrue.
R&B songstress Aaliyah debutedon the music scene with AgeAin’t Nothing But A Number produced by R. Kelly.
The album sold one million copies.She had even greater success the second time around. Her second album One InA Million,which released in 1996, sold 6 million copies. Aaliyah also had acting successin the movie Romeo Must Die.
She unexpectedly died in a planecrash on Aug 25, 2001, after taping the video for her song “Rock the Boat” inthe Bahamas. Her self-titled album Aaliyah was released after her death.
Following her untimely deathAailyah’s second movie Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned came out. Chicago Sun-Times writerRoger Ebert, in his review of the movie said, “Since this will be Aaliyah’sonly starring movie role, it’s sad that her character has such a narrowemotional range.”
Aaliyah was also nominated for anMTV Movie Award for her role in The Queen of the Damned.
“Aaliyah’s career was brought to adifferent level after she died,” said Tony Greggs, a sophomore majoring inpolitical science from Lafayette. “She wasn’t just a singer anymore, she was amovie star.”
TLC bombarded there way into themusic scene with their first album Ooooooohhh…On The TLC Tip, which sold two-million records.Even better success was granted on their second album CrazySexyCool which sold five-million records. Theirthird album Fanmail, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and receivedmultiple Grammy’s. It also sold 4.68 million copies. After the death of group member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez, thealbum 3Dwas released.
Jam Master Jay, the DJ of rap groupRun-DMC, was killed in New York Oct 31, 2002. Run-D.M.C was the first to earngold and platinum albums and the first to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone.Since his death Mezco Toyz released a special edition of Run DMC figuresoffered exclusively in the U.S. through selective Toys R Us stores.
These figures pay tribute to thelate Jam Master Jay, as well as the other group members. Each figure wears redcloth tracksuits, T-shirts printed with “RIP JMJ.” On what would have been his38th birthday, Adidas released the commemorative Jam Master Jay UltraStarshelltoe sneaker in a limited capacity.
“I didn’t know a lot about JamMaster Jay before he died, “said Alicia Thomas, a freshman majoring in masscommunications from Dallas. “It’s sad, it took such a sad situation for him tobe recognized.”
Big Punisher, a Latino rapper fromthe South Bronx released his debut album, Capital Punishment, in 1998. He collapsed and died ofheart failure in February 2000, not long before the release of his second albumYeeeah Baby.His first posthumous album was Endangered Species, which came out in 2001.
Notorious BIG debut with his firstalbum Ready to Die which sold 4 million copies. His second album Life After Death sold ten million copies. He wasunexpectedly gunned down on March 9, 1997. His Postmuthous album Born Again sold 2 million copies.
Legendary Tupac Shakur made his solodebut with 2Pacalypse Now. That same year he starred in the movie Juice. In1995 he presented us with Me Against the World which sold 2 million copies. Hisnext album All Eyez on Me sold nearly 3 million copies. Following his death,the album The Don Killuminati “Makaveli” was released.
“Tupac and Biggie were great artistbefore,” said Karen Warner, a sophomore majoring in mass communications fromChicago. “But now, it’s like their legendary.”
