I Care 4 U

11/26/2002 8:00 PM, LAUNCH
Dan Leroy

Certainly, after her tragic death in a plane crash last year, Aaliyah deserved a recorded remembrance. It's just that I Care 4 U seems an odd way to show you care. Short as her career was, there were plenty of singles to choose from, but this brief greatest-hits package omits worthy choices like "4 Page Letter" and her last release, "Rock The Boat," instead touting five unreleased tracks.

This isn't Tupac we're talking about, though: it's probable that Aaliyah, only 22 when she died and with a full-scale acting career, didn't have much in the vaults. What she did leave behind sounds fine, if not earthshaking; the high school-into-college ballad "Miss You" is--like many of Aaliyah's best songs--gossamer R&B that uses her girlish vocals to full advantage. The shame is that her far more interesting final appearance, on mentor Timbaland's "I Am Music," isn't included here. That spooky electroballad is the poignant eulogy this collection falls short of providing.