Age Ain't Nothing but a Number

the album

Age Ain't Nothing but a Number is the debut studio album by American singer Aaliyah. It was released on May 24, 1994, by Blackground Records and Jive Records. After being signed by her uncle Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah was introduced to recording artist and producer R. Kelly. He became her mentor, as well as the lead songwriter and producer of the album. The duo recorded the album at the Chicago Recording Company in Chicago periodically from January 1993 until early 1994. Age Ain't Nothing but a Number received generally favorable reviews from critics. Many noted Aaliyah's vocal ability and praised the lyrical content. Aaliyah was credited for redefining R&B by blending her voice with Kelly's new jack swing. The album peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard 200 and has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album has sold over three million copies in the United States and six million copies worldwide. The album produced two US Billboard Hot 100 top ten singles—"Back & Forth" and a cover of the 1976 Isley Brothers hit "At Your Best (You Are Love)"; both singles were certified gold by the RIAA. The title track was released as the third and final US single, while "Down with the Clique" and "The Thing I Like" were released as the fourth and fifth singles, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Before Barry Hankerson signed a distribution deal between Blackground Records and Empire Distribution in August 2021, this work was the only studio album of Aaliyah’s available for legal digital streaming. The rights to the album are owned by Sony Music, a legal successor of Zomba Group of Companies (the original owner of Jive Records).

Aaliyah's uncle Barry Hankerson, who was an entertainment lawyer, had been married to Gladys Knight. As a child, Aaliyah traveled with Knight and worked with an agent in New York, where she auditioned for commercials and television programs, including the sitcom Family Matters. In 1989 at the age of 10, she went on to appear on Star Search , where she performed "My Funny Valentine". Aaliyah chose to begin auditioning while her mother made the decision to have her surname dropped. By the age of 11, she started appearing in concerts alongside Gladys Knight. For five nights, Aaliyah performed with Knight in Las Vegas; during the concerts, she would perform a number in the middle of Knight's set and help close out the show by singing a duet with her. While speaking about her time performing with Knight, Aaliyah said "it was a great learning experience". During that time Hankerson was trying to get her a deal with MCA. After failed attempts with getting Aaliyah signed to Warner Bros and MCA records, Hankerson then shifted his focus on getting her signed to Jive Records, the label that R. Kelly, an artist he managed was signed to. After years of developing Aaliyah more as an artist, Hankerson finally signed a joint distribution deal with Jive, and he signed her to his own label Blackground Records. Once Aaliyah finally got the opportunity to audition for the record executives at Jive, she sang "Vision of Love" by Mariah Carey for them.

By 1993, Aaliyah was signed to both Blackground and Jive. In between that time period Hankerson introduced her to recording artist and producer R. Kelly. When the pair first met, she sang an a cappella song for him; impressed by her voice Kelly then made the decision to work with her. Kelly was the only writer and producer credited on the album because Jive Records didn't want multiple people sharing publishing rights. According to Jeff Sledge, "Clive was a publishing guru, so he and Barry weren’t trying to cut a lot of people in on the album to share the publishing. They said we’re going to do this with one guy and the publishing will be easy to deal with because it’s one person". "Old School" was the first song recorded for the album and recording took place at the Chicago Recording Company (CRC) for a duration of at least two days. Aaliyah loved recording "Old School" because that song "had an Isley Brothers flair” to it. Hours were hectic in the studio and according to Aaliyah: "We put in a lot of hours; as far as the music, we’d be in there all night making sure it was perfect. There were times when I was tired, but I knew I had to push on if I wanted to come off." According to the book Musichound R&B: The Essential Album Guide (1998), the album "blends the hip hop sassiness of Mary J. Blige and the soul of Motown". Dean Van Nguyen from The Independent said the record consist of "sunny pop jams and sweet ballads". Vocally, Aaliyah sang the songs in a falsetto and felt the material "came at you kind of tough, a bit edgy, hip hop, but the vocals can be very soothing". The album opens with the a cappella public service announcement intro that urges its listeners to carefully listen to the instructions given. The next track, "Throw Your Hands Up", is an anthemic up tempo G funk inspired song, and it's described as a "statement of purpose" for Aaliyah. Lyrically it discusses "a young girl pining for the love of an older man, and her telling society that it doesn’t matter the age difference between the two of them". A month before the release of the album's lead single "Back & Forth", Aaliyah attended the Urban Network's "Power Jam" conference, where she was introduced and "received warmly". Along with radio ads, press ads were expected to appear in The Voice, Echoes, Blues & Soul and Hip Hop Connection. Aaliyah performed at the Budweiser Superfest at the USAir Arena in September 1994. In January 1995, she performed "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy show All That. On January 11 she performed at the Roanoke Civic Center in Roanoke, VA, followed by performances at the Wilcomico Civic Center in Salisbury, MD on the 13th, the Apollo Theatre in New York City on the 14th, and the Symphony Hall in Newark, NJ on the 15th. On May 1, 1995, Aaliyah made an appearance at the Virgin Megastore in London. Twelve days later on May 13, Aaliyah performed in concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. In July 1995 Aaliyah celebrated Essence magazine's 25th anniversary by performing at the magazine's first annual Essence Music Festival.

"Back & Forth" was released as the album's lead single on April 8, 1994. It reached its peak of number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 three months after it was released, on July 2, 1994. The single reached its peak of number one on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs on May 21, 1994, becoming first of the three number one singles by Aaliyah on this chart. Eventually, the single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 9, 1994, selling 700,000 copies in the country. On June 26, 1994, the song reached number 4 on The Times Southern California pop singles chart. Internationally, "Back & Forth" became a top forty hit in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, peaking at numbers 16 and 38, respectively. In New Zealand, the song peaked at number 48. The album's second single "At Your Best (You Are Love)" was released on August 22, 1994, and it became Aaliyah's second top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number six. On the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs, the song also reached the top ten, peaking at number two. The song received a gold certification by the RIAA on October 25, 1994. "Age Ain't Nothing but a Number" was released as the third single and the final US single from the album. It peaked at number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 25, 1995. The song fared better on the UK charts, peaking at number 32, as well as at numbers 19 and six on the dance and R&B charts, respectively. The album's fifth and sixth singles "Down with the Clique" and "The Thing I Like" were released exclusively in the UK. "Down with the Clique" peaked at numbers 32, 25 and five on the official, dance and R&B charts, respectively. "The Thing I Like" peaked at numbers 33, 15 and four on the official, dance and R&B charts, respectively.