Walking through an exhibition of Andre Smith’s photographs is like flipping through a magazine.
We’re talking about the golden age of the glossy (which Hour Detroit is still very much a part of!), where celebrities posed like glamorous statues on the red carpet. The Detroit photographer often focused on the worlds of R&B and hip-hop, documenting their rise for publications ranging from Ebony to The Detroit News.
For his latest exhibition, Hip Hop Evolution: Aaliyah Homecoming Celebration Exhibit, he’s turned his lens on one of Detroit’s talents that left us way too soon.
Dubbed the “princess of R&B” and the “queen of urban pop,” Aaliyah was embraced by innovative producers, including Timbaland, and taken under the wing of Missy Elliott. She went from rising local star to one of the biggest stars in music thanks to hits like, “Back & Forth,” “At Your Best (You Are Love),” “Are You That Somebody?” and “Try Again.”
On Aug. 25, 2001, her life was cut short when she died in a plane crash in the Bahamas. She was just 22.
The Origins of Hip Hop Evolution: Aaliyah Homecoming Celebration Exhibit
The idea for the exhibit started with Smith’s chance meeting with Aaliyah at his workplace of choice — photographing the red carpet at the Essence Music Awards in New York City back in April 2001, just months before Aaliyah died.
Their Detroit roots brought them together.
“Aaliyah was coming up the red carpet, and I yelled out to her, ‘Hey, Aaliyah, I’m from Detroit!’ And she stopped and paused and said, ‘Come here, come here, come here,’” recalls Smith as we walk through this three-floor exhibit inside of one of Detroit’s premiere schools.
“So, I came from behind a press barricade, and we went into the lobby, and we just had a really nice conversation about Detroit,” says Smith. “We hugged each other, and before she went into the venue, she let me take that (below) picture of her.”
This exhibit is a continuation on Smith’s larger exhibit, “Hip Hop Evolution: Celebrating 50 Years of Hip Hop Photography,” which was on display last year at the Wayne County Community College District’s Downtown Art Gallery. Alongside photos of Aaliyah, it featured early trailblazers — Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, DJ Kool Herc — plus “Golden Age” icons, like Slick Rick, Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, and Run-DMC. Of course, there was a Detroit section (there’s nothing we love more in Detroit than ourselves — let’s be honest), featuring Eminem, as well as the next generation of local talent, including Skilla Baby and Tee Grizzley.
An Eye on the Future
Smith placed this exhibition inside of Detroit School of Arts to speak to the next generation of music lovers — the young Detroit students that walk these halls every day. It’s also the school where Aaliyah graduated from in 1997 with a 4.0 GPA.
“I designed the exhibit to be an educational experience, and I wanted to put it in an educational environment. I really designed the exhibit, for students, for young people,” says Smith, who built out a faux record store inside the exhibition to help teach kids about physical media.
“They probably don’t know what a record or a cassette tape looks like,” laughs Smith.
The Aaliyah Homecoming Celebration Exhibit is now on display through December 19 and open to the public every Saturday from 12 to 4 p.m. at the Detroit School of Arts in the Ford Motor Company Theatre Lobby (123 Selden St., Detroit). For more information, call 313-492-5740.
Ryan Patrick Hooper is the host of In the Groove on 101.9 WDET Detroit Public Radio (weekdays from noon to 3 p.m.).
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