Alicia Keys
Back in March I was invited to make a cameo appearance along with our own Legendary Hal Jackson for a DVD being filmed in celebration of the 10th Anniversary Debut of Alicia Key’s “Songs in A Minor”. Had it really been 10 years?
The Anniversary collection of Alicia’s debut smash features unreleased tracks, remixes and the DVD, which tells her amazing rise from Hell’s Kitchen to World Wide acclaim.
The new wife and mom has much to celebrate. Originally signed to Columbia Records, Keys went to work with then little known producer Jeff Robinson. Upon delivering her very original, acoustic tracks to the label; she was told her project wasn’t acceptable for release. In a world of record labels reeling from the deaths of mega-selling rap artists Biggie Smalls and 2Pac, along with declining sales from the new wave of free “downloading” sites like Napster, record companies were looking for “quick hit”/“formula” songs and artists inexpensive to market. And Alicia was anything but the “usual”.
Alicia Keys completely breaks the mold of artists 10 years ago and today. She’s one of the few A-level R&B/Pop singers who play an instrument on stage. This hails back to earlier generations of artists including Prince, Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Stevie Wonder. And Alicia preferred traditional pianos. This meant arranging for high-quality, half-ton, concert grand instruments with piano tuner in tow for most venues and important appearances along with a full band. Alicia was also hard to classify. She was “hip” but not hip-hop. She was certainly R&B but not one to be paired with the “producer of the month”. She wrote and composed her own songs.
Needless to say the deal with Columbia Records was not to be. A meeting with the legendary visionary Clive Davis, then head of Arista Records changed everything. Davis understood that once and awhile true artists come along that are so original they must be allowed the freedom to create on their own. A settlement was worked out and Keys joined Artista. But, there was one more hurdle. Arista was in the process of being bought by a German conglomerate with their management pushing Davis towards retirement from Arista upon taking over. It soon became clear Davis would leave the company before accepting a “time-line” for retirement. Davis was offered a deal to create his own record label. He offered Alicia a chance to come along. For an artist that just signed a second deal with a major label, the thought of picking up again and venturing into a new start-up that didn’t even have a name at the time must have been something to lose nights of sleep over. But Alicia made the decision to follow Clive Davis to what would eventually become the mega-hit powerhouse “J-Records”.
“Songs in A-Minor” hit stores with it’s #1 hit “Fallin’” on June 5th 2001. The album won 5 Grammy’s and sold over 13 million copies World-Wide. 10 years later, Alicia Keys is a household name selling out venues around the World with awards and accolades spanning every corner of the globe. And Mrs. Keys has become a notable humanitarian. Her continued fundraising and support of efforts to rid Africa of HIV and AIDS has impacted over 300,000 Africans across the Continent.
Congratulations Alicia! It’s been an amazing decade! And we’re all the better because you’re here!
For more information on the 10th Anniversary Edition of “Songs in A-Minor”, visit her website at www.AliciaKeys.com/us