Current Edition

Alicia Keys on Music, Acting and What She Learned from Bono

By: Bret Love

Previous Image Next Image

In an era where worldwide stardom is just one viral YouTube post away, the concept of the career artist who can generate successful albums year after year seems to be going the way of the dodo.

Anyone who can mix a body-rocking beat, a catchy melodic hook, a memorable lyrical phrase and a distinctive voice can become the latest iTunes sensation. But adapting to the changing times while staying true to the essence that makes an artist who they are? In a decade when more stars are generated by reality TV than the old-fashioned work ethic of blood, sweat and tears, that takes the sort of genius that seems to be in increasingly short supply.

If anyone has it, it’s Alicia Keys. From celebrated songwriter to Hollywood smash success, Keys has racked up a diverse artist’s résumé, with no signs of slowing down. From her new album set to drop this year, to developing and producing film projects, to headlining this year’s Cayman Jazz Fest, Keys is poised to expand her creative empire, staying true to herself amid an ever-changing world of entertainment.

Fallin’ to Stardom
Born Alicia Augello-Cook in 1980, the artist who would one day be known as Alicia Keys had talent in spades right from the start. The child of an Irish-Italian mother and Jamaican father, the New York native started learning to play classical piano at the age of 7, and was eventually accepted into the prestigious Professional Performing Arts School of Manhattan at the age of 12. There, she majored in choir and began writing songs at the age of 14, graduating in three years as class valedictorian.

“As a kid, I had two wonderful women in my life that helped to raise me,” Keys says. “One is my mother, who was a single mom, an actress and a very strong woman who showed me everything about being a woman. The second one was my grandmother, who was a very intelligent, very compassionate and very giving woman. I would say the two of them were my greatest inspirations.”

Dropping out of Columbia University after four weeks in order to pursue her musical career, the singer-songwriter signed her first record deal with Columbia Records and recorded a song for the 1997 soundtrack to Men In Black. But her big break came when legendary impresario Clive Davis signed her as the flagship artist for his J Records label. Her 2001 debut, Songs In A Minor, sold more than 11 million copies worldwide on the strength of hit singles such as “Fallin’” and “A Woman’s Worth,” and ultimately earned Keys five Grammy Awards.

“People want to hear me say that there was a crazy amount of pressure and that I was suffering from the weight on my shoulders,” she says when asked about dealing with her sudden stardom at the age of 20. “But I didn’t feel like that. After I first fell in love with the piano, I knew it was me — and I was dying to play. It’s an honour to be able to step into the spotlight, express myself musically and connect with fans on an emotional level.”

From Singer to Superstar
Her sophomore album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, became another smash success, selling 8 million copies, producing three Top 10 singles and earning the singer another four Grammy Awards. But the 24-year-old Keys refused to rest on her laurels: Within a year she had released a New York Times best-seller (Tears For Water: Songbook of Poems & Lyrics), opened a recording facility on Long Island (The Oven Studios) with song writing partner Kerry “Krucial” Brothers, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart with her MTV Unplugged album (which sold 2 million copies), and appeared in her first film role as a red-hot, pistol-packin’ assassin in Smokin’ Aces (co-starring Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck and Jeremy Piven).

“There are a lot of similarities between music and film,” she suggests, “and for me the similarities are about where it comes from within me. My main goal is always to make sure it comes from an authentic, honest place. I want people to feel something, because I feel it. It’s also similar because you get used to putting yourself in vulnerable positions as a performer. Let’s say I wrote a song three years ago, and tomorrow night I’m gonna perform it: Three years ago I felt that emotion, but now I’m kinda over it, yet I can still recall how I felt and portray that emotion for three minutes on stage. So it’s a lot like acting in that sense.”

Interestingly enough, the woman whose life has been consumed by music since the age of 7 has only released one album of new music in the past five years: As I Am debuted at the top of the pop charts in November 2007, selling more than 700,000 copies in its first week of release and giving Keys her fourth consecutive No. 1 album. But in that same time she’s made room on her schedule to appear in three films, including The Nanny Diaries and The Secret Life of Bees, in which she co-starred opposite Hollywood’s most successful urban-music crossover, Queen Latifah.

“I actually knew her before we began filming, but that experience kind of solidified our understanding of each other and we bonded really well. It was so much fun, we would just laugh all the time. Something is really wrong with her,” Keys insists with a hearty laugh. “She will have you cracking up, and just naturally lights up a room. I’m a big fan of her in every way. I just love the way she’s been able to create her own path and blaze her own trails. I really appreciate the way she tries out different musical styles and telling different stories. She’s really broken the mould in a lot of ways, not only in music but in film as well.”

Despite releasing a couple of jazz-influenced albums in the past few years, Queen Latifah has lately become better known for her work in films like Chicago and Ice Age 2: The Meltdown than for the hip-hop music with which she initially made her name. And while Alicia Keys is rumoured to have a new studio album in the works for a late 2009 release, she’s also signed a production deal with Disney that will launch with a remake of the 1958 film Bell, Book and Candle; is executive-producing a TV show based on her life as a child growing up in Hell’s Kitchen; and is developing (and plans to star in) a dramatic biopic about 1940s biracial piano prodigy Philippa Schuyler, Compositions In Black & White.

All of which begs the question, how does Keys intend to strike the balance between her immensely successful music career and her burgeoning Hollywood star status? “Well, it’s all about scheduling, but it happens naturally,” she reasons. “When I’m creating music, it’s definitely all about that. I couldn’t possibly think about doing a film while I was making an album. I don’t even begin to know how to do that. But there are times before I start the recording process that things come together and that’s a good time to do a film. I try to balance things out that way so I’m not doing both simultaneously.”

The Education of Alicia Keys
It’s not difficult to comprehend why Keys would want to do both, even if you ignore the obvious financial benefits. Writing, recording, promoting and touring to support an album release is typically an arduous process that can take years, completely draining an artist of her time and creative energy. So it’s understandable when Keys confesses to a sense of relief at being on a film set and simply being a tool to the director’s vision.

“My music is very personal and I have a hand in putting it together from beginning to end,” she explains. “I’m there every step of the way, getting no sleep and mixing and producing, then to do a tour I have to rehearse the band and put together the arrangements. When I walk on a movie set, I’m not writing the script, producing the movie, directing and acting in it as well. I get a chance to just become this other person, and that’s my job. I like it because I get a chance to express something that’s not about my life. I get to learn about this other person and their experiences, so it gives me a better sense of empathy. Not to mention the hours are WAY better on film!”

Asked how the narrative storytelling style of cinema had impacted the way she approached the craft of song writing, Keys recalls hanging out with U2 frontman Bono, then quickly apologizes for name-dropping with another laugh. The two initially came together in 2005 to record a cover version of Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush’s “Don’t Give Up” in recognition of World AIDS Day, and have since bonded over their mutual passion for philanthropy (Keys is the co-founder of Keep A Child Alive, a non-profit organization devoted to providing medicine to families in Africa battling HIV and AIDS).

“[Bono] was playing me some of his music and talking about how the way in which he created it was influenced by a storyteller’s approach. It was very interesting for me to listen to it in that context, because I’m very emotional and tend to talk about what I feel,” she says. “I don’t tend to tell the whole story around it, unless it affects me in that way. I did write a song called ‘Open Hand’ that tells the story of a woman in an abusive relationship who learns that the strongest grip is an open hand. But I would like to do some writing for the [theatrical] stage, so maybe when I get into that it will put me into more of a storyteller’s mindset.”

Blazing Her Own Trail
Between writing for theatre, working on film and TV development deals and battling world health crises, Keys certainly seems to spend a lot more time these days on non-music-related projects. But with the music business in a steady decline that has even the biggest artists struggling to sell a fraction of the albums they did five years ago, and with labels constantly in search of the Next Big Thing as a result, who can blame a career artist like Alicia Keys for seeking other creative outlets?

“Everything changes,” she allows diplomatically when asked about the shifting tides of the music industry, “and that’s just a part of life. There’s definitely a need for a more forward way of thinking. Record companies got complacent and greedy, and now they’re struggling to fix it. But I think real music will always have a place in the world, because music is the soundtrack of the universe. People are always looking for artists they can depend on, so it’s just about learning new ways to express yourself. People who are just getting signed now are getting awful deals, but in a way it gives somebody like me more independence. People won’t abandon the artists that they trust.”

Let’s hope for her sake that she’s right, as her forthcoming album will need all the support it can get if she hopes to continue her streak of Billboard chart-toppers. To that end, Keys is currently gearing up for a gig at the Cayman Jazz Fest in December as part of the eagerly anticipated album’s massive promotional push. But with so many irons stoking the fires of her career, the 28-year-old seems set for continued success no matter which artistic arena she chooses to focus on.

“I just want to continue to ascend and get better,” she says when asked of her long-term career goals. “I want to be better at what I do every time I do it. As far as specific goals, I think I just want to blaze my own trail. I definitely want to produce films and write great stories and create the music for theatre. I don’t want people to see me as a singer who acts or an actor who sings. I want them to see me as an artist.”

For more information on this year’s Cayman Jazz Fest and the other talented jazz and R&B stars scheduled to perform, please visit caymanjazzfest.com.

Grand Cayman
December 3-5, 2009
Sixth annual Cayman Jazz Festival
www.caymanjazzfest.com
Featuring nine-time Grammy award winner Alicia Keys, Oscar and Grammy award winner Peabo Bryson, Oleta Adams, Kirk Shalum, Keith Sweat, Mike Phillips, Everette Harp. An amazing combination of music from the world's top jazz and R&B performers and the magic of the beautiful Cayman Islands. To book, please call toll free: 1 800 247 9900


Book your flight today! Visit www.caymanairways.com, or call 345-949-2311 (in the Cayman Islands)
or 1-800-G-CAYMAN (in the U.S.).

Back to This Issue