| Alicia Keys,
as many say, possesses an "old soul,"
and the hard facts seem to back up the
implied claim of wisdom and experience
that transcend her youth. Barely in her
twenties, Keys is responsible for an
extremely hot debut, Songs in A Minor.
The release, which she wrote and
produced for Clive Davis' J Records,
blends diverse influences, including
R&B, hip-hop, classical, and jazz. The
day the album went on the market, it
sold more than 50,000 copies. Label
executives confidently predicted
similarly favorable numbers for the
first week's tally.
Around the time that Songs in A minor
was released, Keys was popping up
everywhere, including an Associated
Press story. Where had she been before
then? Her entire life, it seems, had
been an accelerated learning experience,
preparing her for a career in music. A
Manhattan native, her musical gifts
became apparent when she was five years
old. As a choir major enrolled in
Manhattan's Professional Performance
Arts School, she further developed her
vocal talents with extra help from a
teacher. By the time she was 16, Keys
graduated and entered Columbia
University. Music beckoned, however, and
she quickly left Columbia behind.
Keys was writing songs when she was
14, with seven years of piano lessons
under her belt by that time. In later
years, she appeared on movie
soundtracks, including Shaft and Men in
Black. In 1998, she signed a deal with
Arista Records when the company
triumphed in a bidding war over other
labels. When Davis left the company for
J Records in 1999, Keys went along.
Davis promoted the careers of such
artists as Carlos Santana and Whitney
Houston, and part of his launch strategy
for Keys was to secure exposure on BET
and MTV, as well as on The Oprah Winfrey
Show. Her 2001 major label debut, Songs
in A Minor, went multi-platinum, and was
followed in 2003 by the Grammy-winning
smash, Diary of Alicia Keys. |
