She first got the world's attention when at age 15, her bumping first single "Back and Forth" (6/9/94 went gold) went to #1 on the Hot 100 singles chart dethroning her mentor and producer R.Kelly's track,"Your Body's Callin". Her album was released on June of 94. She released another top five single called, "At Your Best (You Are Love)" (10/25/94 gold).

Her sound had a real street flare, and she wasn't doing the bubble gum pop thing like the rest of the teen queens that came before her. In addition to fans, critics gushed in Entertainment Weekly (6/17/94) "Imagine En Vogue packed into one teenage body and backed by hip-hop svengali R. Kelly, and you have Aaliyah...a promising start..."