The late R&B singer Aaliyah continues to be a topic of discussion almost two decades since her passing. 2021 was a milestone year for the singer’s legacy, as it marked 20 years since her passing. This year also marked the first time her catalog became available for streaming. While many have focused on celebrating her and uplifting her music, others have taken this as an opportunity to shed light on parts of her life not familiar to the public. Mostly this has meant exposing her romantic relationships, of which it appears she had many.
At the time of her passing, Aaliyah was dating hip-hop mogul Damon Dash. Dash was the co-founder of Roc-a-fella records with Jay-Z. Dash met R&B singer Aaliyah in New York City in the summer of 2000 through his accountant and the pair quickly became an item. Dame has spoken in interviews about how Aaliyah was rushing home to see him from her shoot for the single “Rock The Boat.” Unfortunately, she did not survive the flight. He has also talked about their plans to wed.
Before dating Damon, Aaliyah had a controversial union with fellow R&B R. Kelly. Kelly and Aaliyah worked together on her debut album Age Aint Nothing but a Number. He served as her executive producer, songwriter and mentor. Their relationship became more and the pair secretly wed when Aaliyah was only 15. While she denied it at the time, several people have come forward over the years to confirm these claims. It was also rumored that Aaliyah had a relationship with songwriter Static Major. In a book published over the summer titled “Baby Girl Better Known as Aaliyah,” the writer claims that Aaliyah and Static became more than friends while working on her song “Are You That Somebody.” According to Major’s mother, Edith Garrett, that song was actually about their relationship. Neither Static nor Aaliyah ever spoke on this relationship publicly.
Raekwon recently caught up with Vlad TV and shed light on another Aaliyah relationship no one was aware of. According to Raekwon, Aaliyah and Ghostface Killa were very close too. While promoting his book, he mentioned that Ghostface and Aaliyah had hooked up, according to Ghost. Raekwon said he had a mansion in LA and dared Ghost to bring Aaliyah through. Sure enough, after waking up from a nap one day, he walked in to find Ghostface and Aaliyah asleep in the chair.
Raekwon says that Ghostface really liked Aaliyah, and WuTang were fans of her music. He believes the pair were heavily crushing on each other, a “baby crush thing” as he calls it, and does not confirm if it was a real relationship or them just kicking it. It appears Aaliyah had an effect on men. Dame Dash says he found out after her passing that Jay-Z had been trying to court Aaliyah for a while. Her producer Timbaland has also confessed to being in love with Aaliyah, so much so that he married a woman that looks just like her. DMX wife has also spoken at length about his love for the singer and how it seemed like he was in love with her.
