Aaliyah

Aaliyah

(Virgin)

Aaliyah, the 22-year-old R&B sensation, is best known in Hong Kong for her role as Trish O'Day in Romeo Must Die alongside Jet Li.

But she is by no means a newcomer to chart success. In fact, her debut album Age Ain't Nothing But A Number - released when she was just 15 - is credited with opening the floodgates for a torrent of teens who followed in her wake. That album went platinum and she followed up with the double-platinum One In A Million.

With the help of illustrious hip-hop honchos R Kelly, Timbaland and Missy Elliot on previous efforts, Aaliyah has never been a girlie pop sensation but her latest self-titled LP shows all the signs she has matured fabulously.

Some have described it as introspective and intimate and, in some ways, it is. But, for the most part, she stays on the right side of funky, particularly in racey tracks Read Between The Lines, Are You That Somebody, and of course, Try Again. Others, like Never No More and first single We Need A Resolution (performed with Timbaland) show off her vocal talent - the very thing that keeps you listening to this surprisingly gentle offering when the doubts set in.