[4][5] The album produced two US Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles—"Back & Forth" and a cover of the 1976 Isley Brothers hit "(At Your Best) You Are Love"; both singles were certified gold by the RIAA.
The rights to the album are owned by Sony Music, a legal successor of Zomba Group of Companies (the original owner of Jive Records).
[6] As a child, Aaliyah traveled with Knight and worked with an agent in New York, where she auditioned for commercials and television programs, including the sitcom Family Matters.
[14] While working with Powell, Aaliyah recorded several covers, such as "The Greatest Love of All", "Over the Rainbow", and "My Funny Valentine", which she had performed on Star Search.
[15] Former Jive Records A&R Jeff Sledge stated that the labels former owner Clive Calder didn't want to sign Aaliyah initially, because he felt that she at age 12 was too young.
[20][21] Kelly was the only writer and producer credited on the album because Jive Records didn't want multiple people sharing publishing rights.
[27][34] The third track and the album's lead single "Back & Forth" is a dance, Pop, R&B and new jack swing song in which Aaliyah sings with a "subtle, laid-back vocal", as she talks about partying on the weekend with her friends .
[38][39] Lyrically it discusses "a young girl pining for the love of an older man, and her telling society that it doesn’t matter the age difference between the two of them".
[34] Aaliyah's cover was labeled as a "sweet" "vintage soul ballad", that gave her a chance to "ditch the tough-girl posturing".
[27][34] The seventh track "No One Knows How to Love Me Quite Like You Do" is a "sensually" up-tempo "crush" record that features a guest rap appearance from Tia Hawkins.
[16] Former Jive Records A&R Jeff Sledge mentioned in an interview that the promotional campaign was set up so that Aaliyah wouldn't have to change her image or style.
Speaking about Aaliyah's image, he said: "She is what she is the album has tremendous pop appeal to go along with her urban edge, so there's not a whole lot different that we'll be doing abroad".
[40] A month before the release of the album's lead single "Back & Forth", Aaliyah attended the Urban Network's "Power Jam" conference, where she was introduced and "received warmly".
[3] Upon the albums July release in the United Kingdom Jive records planned to run radio advertisements on Kiss, Choice, Capital, Buzz and BRMB.
[41] Following the album's release, Aaliyah embarked on a 1994–1995 world tour, visiting the United States, Europe, Japan and South Africa.
[52] Eventually, the single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 9, 1994, selling 700,000 copies in the country.
[58] The album's second single "At Your Best (You Are Love)" was released on August 22, 1994, and it became Aaliyah's second top-ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number six.
[64][69][70] Age Ain't Nothing but a Number received generally favorable reviews from music critics, some writers noted that Aaliyah's "silky vocals" and "sultry voice" blended with Kelly's new jack swing helped define R&B in the 1990s.
[73][76] Christopher John Farley of Time magazine described the album as a "beautifully restrained work", noting that Aaliyah's "girlish, breathy vocals rode calmly on R.Kelly's rough beats".
"[27] Martin Johnson from the Chicago Reader was mixed in his review, he dismissed the albums lyrical content while praising its production saying:"Aaliyah undercuts her own ploy with some of the most passionless singing about sex on disc.
In much the manner of acid jazz, he sandwiches layers of mellow vocals and smooth Soul II Soul-ish rhythms around jittery, frenetic beats and samples".
Tracks touch on images of romance, partying, and hanging with da homegirls with a teenage perspective that can be appreciated byall ages.
Johnson, felt that aside from “Back & Forth, the album was bland and that "As the mouthpiece of an adult male trying to express the thoughts of a pubescent girl, Aaliyah sounds trapped in an awkward stage".
"[81] They also felt that the album had several highlights including "soft, mellow tunes like "At Your Best (You Are Love)," "Young Nation," "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number" and "Down With The Clique.
"[81] Maria Jiménez from Music & Media said, "On Age Ain't Nothing but a Number, Aaliyah kicks the same smoothness, seriousness and quality jams as her mentor/producer R.Kelly.
[82] In their review the New Sunday Times said: "A sort of global karma, re-adjustment of earth, the 3rd stone from the sun, where the material fuses with the spiritual universe, eventually to become one.
[84] The editors also felt that the album was filled with many "ear pleasing numbers" and that Aaliyah was next in line behind Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Toni Braxton as a "chart topping queen".
Overall she felt that Age Ain’t Nothing but a Number "is that rarest of recordings — a collection well suited for its teenage target group, but one that even older listeners can relate to".
[4] To date the album is certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for two million shipped units.
[103] There was speculation about a secret marriage with the release of Age Ain't Nothing but a Number amidst the adult content that Kelly had written for Aaliyah.