Story by Ivory M. Jones
Images by Terry Shropshire for Steed Media Service
Winston Churchill once said, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change
often.” Well, ivory-tickling princess Alicia Keys seems to be striving for perfection.
In the six years since releasing her debut album, Songs in A Minor, audiences
have watched the native New Yorker change right before their eyes. Back in 2001, a
cornrowed, tomboyish Keys was introduced to the masses. Though she sang with the
voice of an angel she walked with a swagger, hardened by life experiences.
By the time she released her sophomore follow-up, The Diary of Alicia Keys, two
years later, she had racked up five Grammy Awards and sold over seven million
albums. But something was different about Keys the second time around. Her rougharound-
the-edges veneer had given way to a much softer version of her former self.
Gone were the intricate cornrows and figure-camouflaging clothes, replaced with a
flowing mane and a figure-hugging wardrobe.
Fast-forward three years later, Keys recently celebrated the release of her third
studio album, As I Am. It’s now hard to imagine Keys as the awkward 21-year-old her
fans were first introduced to. Now, all fans see is a self-assured 27-year-old who is
confident in her skills. Despite having sold more than 20 million albums, she insists
she feels no pressure to match previous successes.
“I don’t feel any pressure because I know that you constantly get better,” asserts
Keys. “I know that I’ve gotten better as a writer, as a musician [and] as an artist. It
just is what it is.”
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Like the change Churchill alluded to, Keys feels the changes that have taken
place throughout her career are indicative of progress. “There are always different
experiences that we have to go through that make us better people ... that growth
is what makes you stronger and definitely makes you understand who you are, who
you want to be and who you don’t want to be,” she explains following a rousing
performance to promote her new album.
Despite the fact that she was nursing a cold, Keys refused to use her weakened
state as an excuse to give fans less than 100 percent. “I like to give people more than
what they expect. That’s who I am,” she explains. “I didn’t want that [cold] to lessen
the experience. It’s just really important to allow people to get good music and get
into it and feel that I’m coming to them with open arms.”
Judging by her first week’s album sales, her fans definitely heard her loud and
clear. Sales for As I Am helped Keys earn her fourth chart-topping album of her
career — no easy feat for an artist in today’s music climate. The album also makes
her the first female R&B artist to have four consecutive albums debut at No. 1 on
Billboard’s Top 200 album charts. According to Keys, she owes her record-breaking
career to her refusal to restrict herself to one musical style.
“Sometimes you put yourself in a box like, ‘This is what I do.’ But who’s to say what
you do? You do whatever you want to do and nobody can tell you that you’re wrong
except you,” she says. “I wanted to disregard any expectations or boxes.”
For her new album, Keys says that her fans are going to find material much
different from the tunes they came to love on Songs and Diary. “This album’s about
breaking the boundaries. It’s like trying new things. It’s inspiration in the truest sense
and there are a lot of strong themes. Ya know, like liberation, self-discovery, freedom
and dealing with mortality the way we have to deal with it every day when we lose who
we love,” she explains. “[There are] definitely real issues that are on there.”
Keys knows firsthand the types of issues people encounter in everyday life. After
her parents split up when she was a young child, she watched her mother struggle
to make ends meet. However, it was her mother’s determination to nurture her
daughter’s love for music that first put Keys on the path to success.
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“My mother put me in piano lessons when I was young, even though it put
a strain on us. Sometimes I’d beg her to let me quit since it was so hard on us
financially,” she recalls. “But she would always say, ‘Quit what you like, but you’re
not quitting piano.’ She didn’t care how much it cost us.”
Grateful for her mother’s support, it’s now Keys’ turn to lend her support. In
January 2007, she announced that she would award four college-bound students
with $5,000 scholarships. The awards were part of Frum Tha Ground Up and
Open Door Scholars program. Keys has been tied to the Jacksonville, Fla.-based
nonprofit program since her road manager, D.J. Walton, first launched it. “We’re
just looking for standout students who are definitely college-bound and need a
little bit of help financially to really achieve their dreams,” she explained at the time
of the scholarship’s announcement.
Keys also lends her voice and time to Keep a Child Alive, a nonprofit that provides
AIDS medication to underprivileged children and their families living with HIV or
AIDS in Africa. In 2006, she teamed up with U2 front man Bono to record “Don’t
Give Up (Africa)” to help raise awareness about the 25 million people infected
with HIV in Africa.
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Keys also works closely with Teens-In-Motion, a Bronx, N.Y.-based organization
that focuses on motivating teens. She says that giving back to the community,
especially the youth, is extremely important to her.
“I like to find organizations that focus on motivating and telling people that
you can do it, no matter what your situation,” Keys explains. “There are so many
people out there telling you what you can’t do and shouldn’t do instead of telling
you what you can do. All of those organizations, in different ways, focus on that,
and that’s why they’re important to me.”
Although Keys is dedicated to giving back, music is still her main focus. Keys
welcomes the chance to create good music while at the same time displaying her
growth and maturity. “Someone compared [me] to Prince and it is a very huge
compliment to me because he is truly the epitome of a musician and an artist,”
she says. “He could do anything and that’s the type of artist I want to be.”
Although she makes no attempt to hide her admiration of Prince, she’s still
determined to forge her own path. “I don’t want to compare myself to anybody
else,” Keys affirms. “I want to be my best for me.”
| CLASSICALLY TRAINED |
| Alicia Keys began studying classical piano at the tender age
of 7. However, she isn’t the only R&B artist to be trained in
classical music. Check out this quick rundown of other artists
who may be just as familiar with the catalogs of Chopin or
Buccini as they are with the music of Stevie Wonder and Patti
LaBelle. |
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| John Legend (piano): |
| Like Keys, John Legend began studying classical music as
a child. By the time he was 7, the Ohio native was well
on his way to the piano-playing soul man he is today. |
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| Jamie Foxx (piano): |
| Though Jamie Foxx didn’t take up classical music until
college, the comedian-turned-actor-turned-singer has also
found success on the music charts. |
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| Beyoncé (opera): |
| When Beyoncé sang “Learn to Be Lonely” from The Phantom
of the Opera at the 2005 Oscar Awards, it wasn’t the first time
the Southern belle had tackled opera. The former Destiny’s
Child front woman was classically trained in opera as a child. |
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| Corinne Bailey Rae (violin): |
| When British import Corinne Bailey Rae stormed the U.S.
airwaves in 2006, her instrument of choice was an acoustic
guitar. However, her early training was in classical violin. |
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