The video for “Rock the Boat” – the clip Aaliyah was working on in the Bahamas before embarking on a fatal plane crash – will premiere Tuesday (October 9) at 8 p.m. ET on BET.
The debut will be part of “Access Granted: Aaliyah Rocks the Boat,” a half-hour documentary on the making of the video, according to BET producer Kevin Taylor. Taylor, who was in the Bahamas filming the shoot, described the clip as gorgeous and sensual.
“It’s very ethereal and heavenly,” Taylor said of the Hype Williams-directed clip. “There are lots of shots of water and clouds, and the video ends with Aaliyah swimming up from the bottom of a pool, almost looking like she’s going into the clouds. It’s really beautiful.”
“I know there’s a lot of pain involved, but that’s all the more reason people would appreciate what we’ve done as a group.” – director Hype Williams
Taylor said that even though putting together the show was tough, footage of Aaliyah joking with stylists Eric Foreman and Christopher Maldonado, who were also killed in the twin-engine plane crash, made it bittersweet. “They were completely hilarious, like sitcom funny,” Taylor said. “I’ve never been around a group of people who were funnier.”
Director Williams, who’s helmed clips for Busta Rhymes, Ginuwine and Notorious B.I.G., described the shoot as one of his most memorable. “Everyone put their heart and soul into the work, as we always do, with the intent that the world would enjoy it,” he said shortly after the 22-year-old singer died on August 25. “I know there’s a lot of pain involved, but that’s all the more reason people would appreciate what we’ve done as a group”.
A spokesperson for Aaliyah’s label, Blackground Records, said that it’s unclear when or if the video for “More Than a Woman,” which was shot before “Rock the Boat,” would premiere.
