Hi Jesus,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

The track generally known as “Girlfriends,” featuring Yaushameen Michael, is one of Aaliyah's more intriguing unreleased recordings. It has been traditionally associated with the Timbaland/Static Major/Bassment circle and is believed to date to the period surrounding Aaliyah's 2001 self-titled album. The strongest firsthand account I found comes from Tim Barnett, who worked with the Bassment/Southernaires camp. He said the song wasn't actually intended for Aaliyah's album: Yaushameen was a Southernaires artist and a big Aaliyah fan, and Static Major arranged for Aaliyah to appear on her record. Aaliyah was essentially lending her name and vocals to a younger/less-established artist from the same creative network, which also included Missy Elliott and Playa and others.

This acapella reel recording indicates, however, that Aaliyah's record company / studio were handling this collaboration rather than the other way around.

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

An Aaliyah "Girlfriends" reel recording
recorded for Virgin/Blackground by Budda with Segal engineering, at Music Grinder Studios in Hollywood, CA, dated April 13, 2001
BASF 900 reel
1/2 x 2500
CONDITION: unknown
PROVENANCE: acquired from an online auction
$ 1,000-1,500*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia