Reissue of Aaliyah’s unusual song “I Can Be” from the album of the same name

Aaliyah always seemed to be ahead of her time in terms of sound throughout her music career.

In July 2001, her album of the same name was released, with which she took her modern sound beyond street R&B and into the universal soul world.

Musically, “I Can Be”, a deep cut from Aaliyah’s album of the same name, is the predecessor to “Are You That Somebody?” from 1998 from the Dr. Dolittle Soundtrack.

On the latter track, led by Timbaland, she wonders if a potential secret hookup can keep her wild side to themselves, and hopes they both have fun.

On the Tank-written “I Can Be,” a collage of rock and UK garage, Aaliyah answers her own lustful question and insists she can fill the role of a kept woman.

“I can be the other woman in your life / I can be the other reason you’re out at night / I can be everything you wanted her to be / I can be on the side where everything would be OK,” she sings over a rousing production.

When asked whose idea it was to write from this perspective, Tank said it was all Aaliyah.

“Aaliyah called me and said, ‘I need that bite, Tank. I’m a woman and people need to understand that. So I want to shake them up a little bit with some of the things I say and some of the things I do in my music,'” Tank recalled to Rated R&B in an interview in 2020.

Tank complied with her request, saying, “I wrote from the perspective that people are surprised to hear that Aaliyah is the other woman. Like, Aaliyah is supposed to be your main woman. Not only is she the other woman, but she’s also saying, ‘It’s okay for me to be the other woman. I’m OK with that.'”

He continued, “This was long before SZA spoke about ‘The Weekend.’ This is Aaliyah saying, ‘I can take care of anything she doesn’t take care of.'”

Tank recalled that after writing the song, he forwarded it to Aaliyah and referenced it for her feedback. “When she called me and told me she loved it, I was like, ‘Oh, shit. This is dope,'” he said.

Aside from his writing credit for Aaliyah, Tank chatted with us for our Opening editorial team of Board + Pen about working on songs by Toni Braxton, Kelly Rowland, Pleasure P, Jennifer Hudson and others.

Listen to Aaliyah’s “I Can Be” from her album of the same name again below.