More Than a Woman (Aaliyah song)

"More Than a Woman"
Single by Aaliyah
from the album Aaliyah
Released November 13, 2001 (2001-11-13)[1]
Format CD single, 12"
Recorded Manhattan Center
(New York City, New York)
Genre Pop, electro, hip hop
Length 3:49
Label Blackground, Virgin
Writer(s) Timbaland, Stephen Garrett
Producer(s) Timbaland
Aaliyah singles chronology
"We Need a Resolution"
(2001)		 "More Than a Woman"
(2001)		 "Rock the Boat"
(2002)

"More Than a Woman" is a song performed by American recording artist Aaliyah. It was written by Static Major and Timbaland, who produced the song for her self-titled 2001 album Aaliyah.

"More Than a Woman" was released as a single in November 2001 in the United States and January 2002 in the United Kingdom.[2] Aaliyah performed the song on Live with Regis & Kelly on July 18, 2001 and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on July 25, 2001, which was her last performance before her death. "More Than a Woman" was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in the 45th Annual Grammy Awards.

Recording and production

During the recording of the album Static was producing "More Than a Woman" and the following day he had recorded the song's first version, following this Static kept going back and listening to the song saying ‘I can do something bigger and better to it’. The Following day Static rewrote the whole song, Aaliyah wasn’t present at the studio at the time when Static did the first version, so she never heard the first version.[3]

Complex journalist Lauren Nostro said "More Than a Woman" mixes "pop, electro, and a mesmerizing mid tempo hip-hop feel, which allowed Aaliyah's delicate vocals to take the spotlight".[4] According to WhoSampled, it includes an uncredited sample of Mayada El Hennawy's 1993 song "Alouli Ansa".[5]

Release and reception

Having invested in the commercial performance of Aaliyah's self-titled third album, Blackground Records and Virgin Records wanted a single with a high chart placement to help increase the album's sales.[6] Its lead single "We Need a Resolution" had been released on April 13, but underperformed on radio and only reached number fifty-nine on the Billboard Hot 100.[7] In August, Aaliyah shot a music video for "More Than a Woman" in Los Angeles and then travelled to the Bahamas to shoot a video for "Rock the Boat".[8] But after its completion, she and several crew members who were returning to the United States died in a plane crash on August 25.[9] Blackground executives were uncertain when they would release the album's next single and video.[10]

In the United States, "More Than a Woman" entered at number seventy one on the Billboard Hot 100, dated issue February 2, 2002.[11] and peaked at number twenty-five in its ninth week.[12] The song stayed in the chart for twenty-four weeks.[13] The song ranked fifty-eighth on the 2002 year-end chart.[14]

In the United Kingdom, the song entered and peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart on January 13, 2002 ― for the week ending date January 19, 2002 ― selling 32,081 copies for that week. It became the first time that a posthumous release has taken over from another posthumous release in Britain when the song was replaced by George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord", and the first time that a woman has had a posthumous number one single in that country. All together, the single has sold 347,563 copies in the United Kingdom.[15] Elsewhere in Europe, the song reached the top twenty in Belgium, Ireland and Switzerland.[15]

Music video

The music video for "More Than a Woman" was directed by Dave Meyers and filmed in Los Angeles, California in early August 2001 before the video shoot for "Rock the Boat".[16] The video starts with a shot of West 4th Street in Los Angeles, looking towards the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Aaliyah riding a 2001 model Triumph Speed Triple in the wrong direction when the camera zooms inside the exhaust pipe and shows Aaliyah dancing in a white Chanel catsuit with other female dancers between the pistons. Between cuts she is riding the motorcycle and doing wheelies and in another scene standing in front of a headlight with her back against the camera. Later in the video, Aaliyah is dancing with co-ed dancers, wearing leather pants, gloves, and boots, and a black tank-top. At the end, a silhouette of Aaliyah on her motorcycle wearing Dainese Gear is placed in front of sunset with the words "In Loving Memory of Aaliyah" above. British music producer Mark Ronson appears in the video as a DJ, along with then girlfriend Rashida Jones and her sister, Kidada.

The video premiered on January 7, 2002 and landed on top of BET's 106 & Park countdown right after "Rock The Boat'" was retired from the countdown. In Germany, the music video ranked several times at number one on the interactive voting show Select MTV on MTV. "More Than a Woman" also landed at number 11 on BET: Notarized Top 100 Videos of 2002. It was voted by the British public as "Best Video" and received an award at the 2002 UK MOBO Awards.

Formats and track listings

International CD single[17]

  1. "More Than a Woman" (album version) – 3:50
  2. "More Than a Woman" (Bump n' Flex Club Mix) – 5:31
  3. "More Than a Woman" (Masters at Work Main Mix) – 8:50
  4. "More Than a Woman" (music video)

European CD single[18]

  1. "More Than a Woman" (album version) – 3:50
  2. "More Than a Woman" (Bump N' Flex Club Mix) – 5:30
  3. "One in a Million" – 4:31
  4. "More Than a Woman" (music video)

Australian CD single[19]

  1. "More Than a Woman" (radio edit) – 3:08
  2. "Rock the Boat" (album version) – 4:34
  3. "More Than a Woman" (Bump N' Flex Club Mix) – 5:31
  4. "More Than a Woman" (Masters at Work Main Mix) – 8:50

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2002) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[20] 37
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[21] 65
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[22] 10
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[23] 31
France (SNEP)[24] 25
Germany (Official German Charts)[25] 34
Ireland (IRMA)[26] 13
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[27] 38
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[28] 10
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[29] 52
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 16
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[15] 1
UK R&B (Official Charts Company)[31] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[32] 25
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[33] 11
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[34] 7
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[35] 19

Year-end charts

Charts (2002) Position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[36] 86

Preceded by
"Gotta Get Thru This" by Daniel Bedingfield		 UK Singles Chart number one single
January 13, 2002 – January 19, 2002 		Succeeded by
"My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison

See also

References

  1. ↑ "More Than a Woman - Aaliyah : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on December 20, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  2. ↑ Strong, Martin C. (November 30, 2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Canongate U.S. p. 4. ISBN 1841956155.
  3. ↑ "Exclusive: The Producers of "Aaliyah" Take Us Behind the Scenes Into Making of This Classic - YouKnowIGotSoul.com".
  4. ↑ Damien Scott (19 May 2014). ""More Than a Woman" (2001) - The 25 Best Aaliyah Songs - Complex". Complex.
  5. ↑ "Aaliyah's More Than a Woman sample of Mayada El-Hennawy's Alouli Ansa". WhoSampled. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
  6. ↑ Farley 2001, pp. 166–167.
  7. ↑ Mitchell 2001, p. 43; Farley 2001, pp. 166–167
  8. ↑ Schumacher-Rasmussen 2001.
  9. ↑ Huey n.d.
  10. ↑ Sigesmund & Evans 2001.
  11. ↑ "Music: Top 100 Songs - Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.
  12. ↑ "Music: Top 100 Songs - Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.
  13. ↑ "Music: Top 100 Songs - Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.
  14. ↑ "2000". Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  15. 1 2 3 "Chart Performance". Swisscharts. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  16. ↑ "Aaliyah's Final Video 'Very Special,' Director Says". MTV News. Viacom. August 30, 2001. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  17. ↑ "Aaliyah– More Than A Woman (CD, Maxi-Single, Enhanced)". Discogs. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
  18. ↑ "Aaliyah– More Than A Woman (CD, Maxi-Single, Enhanced)". Discogs. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
  19. ↑ "Aaliyah– More Than A Woman (CD, Maxi-Single)". Discogs. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
  20. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Aaliyah – More Than a Woman". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  21. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Aaliyah – More Than a Woman" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  22. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Aaliyah – More Than a Woman" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Aaliyah – More Than a Woman" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  24. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Aaliyah – More Than a Woman" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  25. ↑ "Musicline.de – Aaliyah Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  26. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 5, 2002". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  27. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Aaliyah search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  28. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2002-03-03". Scottish Singles Top 40.
  29. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Aaliyah – More Than a Woman". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  30. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Aaliyah – More Than a Woman". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  31. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2002-03-03" UK R&B Chart. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Aaliyah – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Aaliyah. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
  33. ↑ "Aaliyah – Chart history" Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs for Aaliyah. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  34. ↑ "Aaliyah – Chart history" Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for Aaliyah. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  35. ↑ "Aaliyah – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Aaliyah. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  36. ↑ "ChartsPlus Year-End 2002" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
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