‘You were preyed upon by old dudes throughout your short life’: Jay-Z is seen ‘all over’ Aaliyah in never-before-published photos taken a year before her tragic death – The Truth About Jay Z’s Scary Obsession With Aaliyah Finally Revealed 

So, before Queen B aka Beyonce, there was Queen A, aka Aaliyah and one thing that they had in common was that Jay-Z had his eyes on them both. But to what extent though? What’s the real truth about Jay-Z’s scary obsession with Aaliyah?

Well, all I know is that after Dash and Aaliyah started seeing each other, he and Jay-Z had a falling out and Jaguar Wright certainly believed that Jay-Z was bitter that Aaliyah chose Dash and not him.

Never-before-published photos show just how close rapper Jay-Z was to ‘princess of R&B’ Aaliyah just a year before her death.

The photos from a Fourth of July party in 2000, obtained exclusively by DailyMailTV, show the rapper with his arms around Aaliyah as they danced and laughed.

This comes as Damon Dash – Jay-Z’s ex-business partner – revealed recently that Jay-Z ‘tried very hard’ to get with Aaliyah before he hooked up with superstar Beyoncé.

Dash – who dated Aaliyah until her untimely death aged 22 in 2001 – told how Jay-Z was ‘going hard’ to woo the Try Again singer and now DailyMailTV has the pictures to prove it.

Photos from a Fourth of July party in 2000 were obtained exclusively by DailyMailTV showing Aaliyah and Jay-Z getting cozy

A source who was at the party in the Hamptons confirmed that Jay-Z, who was 30 at the time, appeared besotted with the then 21-year-old star

Jay-Z had rented a mansion in East Hampton and had a catered barbecue in a tent in the back yard with Aaliyah, P.Diddy and Damon Dash all in attendance

In the Fourth of July party photos, the Empire State of Mind rapper, now 49, can be seen hugging and laughing with Aaliyah.

Jay-Z holds a bottle of Belvedere vodka and poses with Aaliyah and star rapper and producer P. Diddy.

‘They were hugging each other and you could totally see there was a chemistry between them,’ they tell DailyMailTV

Meanwhile Damon can be seen posing shirtless with a group of girls and dancing with Aaliyah.

A source who was at the Fourth of July party in the Hamptons confirmed that Jay-Z, who was 30 at the time, appeared besotted with the then 21-year-old star.

The eyewitness said: ‘Jay-Z had just had a big hit with Big Pimpin’ and he decided to have this party with Damon and the rest of his crew for the Fourth of July. Diddy was there too.

‘Aaliyah was becoming super famous at the time and had just starred in her first movie, Romeo Must Die, so they were all doing really well.

‘Jay-Z rented a mansion in East Hampton and they had a catered barbecue in a tent in the back yard. It was a really fun party.’

The source added: ‘Damon was dating Aaliyah at the time and Jay-Z was single, he wasn’t there with a girl.

‘I saw that Jay-Z was trying to get close to Aaliyah but I didn’t think too much of it at the time.

I probably thought they were just friends or making music together.

‘Now that Damon has said what he said it all makes sense. Jay-Z was all over Aaliyah.

‘They were hugging each other and you could totally see there was a chemistry between them.

‘I knew that Damon was going out with her so I did think it was a little weird.

‘Sometimes people share girlfriends. I don’t know if they were sharing but they wouldn’t be the first.’

Jay-Z posed with Aaliyah and star rapper and producer P. Diddy during the 2000 Fourth of July party in East Hampton

A source tells DailyMailTV that they Jay-Z trying to get close to Aaliyah but didn’t think too much of it at the time because she was dating Damon Dash

Damon Dash was dating Aaliyah at the time and Jay-Z was single. He would start dating Beyonce about two years later

Dash – who dated Aaliyah until her untimely death aged 22 in 2001 – told recently how Jay-Z was ‘going hard’ to woo the singer

Dash, 48, co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records and hip hop clothing line Rocawear with Jay-Z in the 1990s.

Their partnership came to a sour end after Jay-Z bought Dash out of Rocawear in the fall of 2005.

Dash dated Aaliyah for about a year until she was killed in a horrific plane crash in the Bahamas in August 2001.

Although they were not formally engaged Dash claimed that they were planning to get married before she died.

She had previously been illegally wed in a secret marriage to disgraced R&B star R. Kelly when she was just 15.

The photos were taken about two years before Jay-Z moved on to his now wife Beyoncé (pictured in 2002)

Following her death Jay-Z paid tribute to the tragic singer in a remix of her song Miss You.

The song includes the lines: ‘Have you ever loved somebody used to get the party poppin’/ We used to party hop/ We used to be in the Hamptons/ Party a lot.’

Speaking to Page Six in late November, Dash said of Jay-Z’s pursuit of the rising star: ‘He tried very hard.

‘I did not mean to fall in love with Aaliyah, she was just that cool.

‘But you know, we were both going hard … everybody was trying to get to Aaliyah — it was not just Jay.’

AALIYAH shared a haunting premonition in one of her final interviews, appearing to foreshadow her own death just weeks before she was killed in a plane crash.

The R&B singer tragically died on August 25, 2001, alongside eight others after a chartered plane destined for Miami crashed less than a minute after take-off in the Bahamas. She was just 22.

Aaliyah died aged 22 following a light aircraft plane crash in the Bahamas, on August 25, 2001Credit: Getty

The doomed plane was 700 hundred pounds overweight and the pilot was not qualified to fly itCredit: AP
In an interview with German media just one month before the fatal wreck, Aaliyah shared a now eerie anecdote about a recurring dream she’d been having at the time.

The pop sensation, one of the most coveted performers of her era, told her interviewer that in the dream she was being followed by someone, which made her feel scared and anxious.

But then she would suddenly fly away from them and feel at peace.

“It is dark in my favorite dream,” she began. “Someone is following me. I don’t know why. I’m scared. Then suddenly I lift off. Far away.

“How do I feel? As if I am swimming in the air. Free. Weightless. Nobody can reach me. Nobody can touch me. It’s a wonderful feeling.”
EERIE PREDICTION

This was one of the final interviews Aaliyah gave before her death.

While the dream bears a number of symbolic elements, fans of the singer have suggested that it was actually a dark, subconscious premonition of the crash that ultimately claimed her life.

Within four weeks, Aaliyah would be dead after suffering severe burns and a fatal blow to the head after she boarded a Cessna 402 twin-engine light aircraft that crashed seconds after takeoff.

Her body was found 20 feet away from the wreckage. She was still strapped into her seat and slumped over to her left.

At a coroner’s inquest hearing in November 2001, Dr. Giovander Raju called Aaliyah’s chances of survival slim to none, pointing to the fact she suffered from a “generally weak heart.”

“Aaliyah went into such a state of shock, even if she had survived the crash, recovery would have been near impossible,” Raju said

The pop sensation was one of the most coveted performers of her eraCredit: Getty

All eight people about the flight died. Six, including Aaliyah, died instantly. Two others died in hospitalCredit: AP

Aaliyah was an anxious flier and initially refused to board the planeCredit: AP:Associated Press
It was later revealed that the pilot, who wasn’t qualified to fly the plane, had traces of cocaine and alcohol in his body.

It was also discovered that the plane was around 700 pounds overweight, and the weight wasn’t distributed properly making the plane almost impossible to control once airborne.
ANXIOUS FLIER

Earlier this week, a bombshell excerpt from Kathy Iandoli’s upcoming book, Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah, revealed that the singer was reportedly apprehensive to get on board the flight in the first place.

Initial reports from the time suggested she had been insistent that she needed to be back in Miami later that evening.

However, a man who was one of the last people to see her alive said she actually refused to get on board.

Aaliyah, a known anxious flier, reportedly knew the size of her seven-person entourage and all of their luggage would be too much for the small jet to bear.

She was reportedly fearful of small planes and had been expected a much larger aircraft to arrive.

The claim was made by Kingsley Russell, a Bahamian man who was 13 at the time and working as the star’s baggage handler for his family’s taxi and hospitality business.
REFUSED TO BOARD

Russell’s mother was Aaliyah’s driver during her time on the island and he told Iandoli he spoke with the star on their way to the airport, as first reported by The Daily Beast.

The plane was late arriving at the gate by two hours, reportedly irking Aaliyah’s team, Russell said.

Frustrations boiled further when the plane finally arrived and Aaliyah refused to board it, he recounts in the book.

It was then that members of her entourage reportedly started arguing with the pilot after he told them the plane would be too heavy for eight passengers and all of their luggage.

Aaliyah had been filming what would be her last music video, Rock The Boat, on the tropical island and her entourage was carrying heavy camera equipment with them.
‘AALIYAH HAD COMMON SENSE’

As Russell remembers it, Aaliyah’s team was reportedly insistent that they needed to be back in Miami as it was a Saturday night.

“[The airport staff] and Aaliyah had the common sense that the plane was overweight,” Russell says in the book, as reported by the Beast.

Aaliyah’s premonition was revealed less than a month before she diedCredit: Getty

She had been filming her music video for Rock the Boat when she diedCredit: Virgin Records

Her parents reached an undisclosed settlement with the operator of the flightCredit: AP
The 22-year-old then got back into Russell’s mother’s taxi, telling her team she had a headache and wanted to take a nap.

Eventually, Russell says, a member of Aaliyah’s team came to check on her.

During the exchange, Russell says the singer reiterated that she didn’t want to get on the small plane and that she wasn’t feeling well.

The team member then handed Aaliyah a pill, Russel claims, which she took before falling “into a deep sleep”.
MYSTERY PILL

She was then carried onto the flight unconscious, he claims, after the pilot finally caved and allowed her team to board.

“They took her out of the van; she didn’t even know she was getting boarded on a plane,” Russell recounts in the book. “She went on the airplane asleep.”

The flight took off at 6.50pm. It had only got between 60 and 100 feet in the air before nosediving back down to the ground.

Aaliyah and six of the eight others on board were killed instantly. Two others died in hospital.

One of those passengers was the singer’s security guard. He reportedly spent his final moments worrying about Aaliyah’s condition, first responders later said.