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.

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.’