

According to Blackground Records CEO Jomo Hankerson, many radio station program directors had a problem with what they called " cricket sounds" in the song. Many stations made excuses as to why they couldn't play the song by saying "they couldn't blend it in, they couldn't mix it in with records before it or after it because the cadence hadn't been done before". Once the song was completed and sent to radio, radio stations initially didn't want to play it. This is not just the sound that’s going on right now - this is a new sound that is being created. She was next level to understand that this is some next level. In regards to Aaliyah enjoying the song, Elliot said that "she had an ear and she knew what that music made her feel like. However, once Aaliyah heard the song, she liked it.

#A one in a million you how to#
According to Elliot, she wrote the song in a rap-singing style because she didn't know how to write songs for singers, explaining: "Because I wasn’t really a singer like that, that's why I wrote like that, because I was a rapper, but I didn't know how to do a bunch of runs, so every record that I would attack, I would attack it like I'm rap-singing it." During the earliest stages of the recording process, Elliot was scared to play the record to Aaliyah because the song's sound was very different. "One in a Million" was nominated for Best R&B/Soul Single – Female at the 1998 Soul Train Music Awards.Īlong with " If Your Girl Only Knew", "One in a Million" was one of the earliest songs which Aaliyah recorded with Timbaland and Missy Elliott. Released as a double A-side single with " If Your Girl Only Knew" in the United Kingdom, the song peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. "One in a Million" was a moderate commercial success, peaking at number 25 on the US Radio Songs and atop the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Upon its release, it was met with generally positive reviews from critics, with many praising the song's innovative production. "One in a Million" was released as the third single from One in a Million by Blackground and Atlantic Records on November 26, 1996.

Lyrically, it is about Aaliyah professing her love for a man whom she identifies as being her "one in a million". Musically, the song is an R&B- club ballad with trip hop and drum and bass influences. It was written by both Missy Elliott and Timbaland with the latter producing the song. " One in a Million" is a song recorded by American singer Aaliyah for her second studio album of the same title (1996).
