If Your Girl Only Knew

Aaliyah recorded 'If Your Girl Only Knew' for her second album One in a Million, with Timbaland producing and co-writing the track alongside Missy Elliott and Aaliyah herself at Unique Recording Studios in New York, marking one of the first major productions from the nascent Timbaland-Missy Elliott creative partnership. Released in 1996 on BlackGround/Atlantic Records, 'If Your Girl Only Knew' reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Aaliyah's breakthrough single following her separation from R. Kelly, establishing the minimalist, off-kilter Timbaland production sound that would define late-1990s R&B. The track is widely regarded as the record that introduced Timbaland's signature drum programming to mainstream audiences, launching a production style that dominated R&B and hip-hop for the following decade and cementing Aaliyah's identity as the definitive vehicle for that new aesthetic.