MTV: Do you feel you've made any sacrifices in your music career to work on your movie career?

Aaliyah: No. I don't feel I made any sacrifices at all. In the interim ... I still did my music. I was on a number of soundtracks, and we did videos to a few of those songs. Right now, I'm doing my best to juggle both. I don't want to abandon one for the other, and I don't think I need to sacrifice anything in order to put my all into either one of them.

MTV: Do you feel any pressure this time around that wasn't there for your last album?

Aaliyah: I don't think about my previous success. I'm happy that the work I've done in the past has been very successful. All I can do is leave it in God's hands and hope that my fans feel where I'm coming from. I took the time out to give my all. Being in Australia [filming "Queen of the Damned"] was really cool, because I really got to take a break from what was going on in the industry and be totally creative.

MTV: You worked with Timbaland on the first single, but you also worked with a lot of other new producers. Who did you work with this time, and why did you pick these particular people?

Aaliyah: These new producers are in our camp. They're with the Blackground [label] family. Their names are Bud'da, J. Dub, and E. Seats. [They're] amazing producers. They add a wonderful new flavor to the project, along with Timbaland, who has three cuts on the album. ... The sound that you heard before from Aaliyah is evident, but it's just a little bit different. It's a little bit more mature.

MTV: You said one of your favorite songs on the album is "I Can Be." What does it mean to you?

Aaliyah: I like that song, because it speaks about being the other woman. There are relationships out there where a guy already has a girlfriend and he's got one on the side, too. What's cool about it [is that] music is for everyone to interpret in [their] own way. You may hear a song and feel one way about it, and I feel another. My interpretation of that song is, even though I'm singing [about being] the other woman in your life, I'll be on the side, I don't mind. It's so dark. There's a part of [the character] that is so depressing, it makes you feel she doesn't really mean what she's saying. She likes this guy, but she really doesn't want to be the other girl on the side. It's really a sad story, and I liked that. These songs on this album talk about relationships in every aspect.

MTV: Have any of these songs been sitting around since the last album?

Aaliyah: My favorite song is "I Care 4 U." That song is five years old. I listened to it right when I finished One in a Million and ... I wish I could've put it on that album. But we put it to the side [and] waited. It's a timeless, classic song. It still sounds amazing to this day. Missy [Elliott] wrote that [one].

MTV: Does "We Need a Resolution" speak to a specific person or situation?