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Don't Compare Tink and Aaliyah's 'Million' Videos

Similar concepts, different meanings.

Co-signs hold so much weight in hip hop. The moment a more famous rapper or producer champions a younger talent is when most listeners immediately want to make comparisons. Ever since Tink signed to Timbalands Mosley Music Group in 2014, there's been so much conversation surrounding the fact that Timbo found the new Aaliyah.

When Tink debuted her “Million” remake at this year’s FADER Fort during SXSW, Timbo even told the crowd that Aaliyah appeared in a dream to tell him that Tink was “the one.” For the 20-year-old Chicago native, that’s a lot of weight on her shoulders and she’s been handling it like a young boss.

But let’s just make it clear: Tink and Aaliyah are not the same.

The evidence is in her newest video for “Million.” Yes, Timbo does sample Baby Girl’s “One in a Million,” but this video is not a homage or simply recreating what was done in 1996. In the original, directed by Paul Hunter, we see Aaliyah, Missy Elliott and Timbaland chilling in a old-school drop-top convertible surrounded by tons of adoring fans. Throughout it all, the focus is on Aaliyah and the crush she’s really into, which is played by Ginuwine. The phrase, "your love is a one in a million," holds true through thick and thin, black and white, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic. Any extreme you can think of.

Conversely, Tink’s “Million” video is catered to teenagers who've just fallen in love. The concepts are similar, however; director Benny Boom wanted to create a video that’s less concerned with what the lyrics really mean and more on her artistic progression. She’s showing off her dance moves and routines (which shouldn’t go unnoticed), and we are seeing a young woman mature as she finds that special someone to spend her entire life with. She's known to spit bars — her "3Hunna Freestyle" earned her stripes in Chi-Town's drill scene — but this is evidence that she's well on her way to becoming a R&B/hip hop force.

Timbo might be right. She’s definitely the one carrying the torch now.

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(Photo: TinkVEVO via Youtube)

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