Astonishingly, Keys has been a player in the music game for a decade now, as her debut album Songs in A Minor came out way back in 2001. She made an immediate impact with her unique sound, which took the tropes of bohemian R&B and blended in organic funk, coffeehouse folk and just a little bit of flashy vocal pizazz. Keys' early singles ("A Woman's Worth," the Prince cover "How Come You Don't Call Me" and especially the infectious smash "Fallin'") were all refreshing and thrilling, and her sound only evolved from there. Her 2003 album The Diary of Alicia Keys not only expanded the boundaries of her sound but also blew open the scope of her lyrics. Tracks like "If I Ain't Got You" and "Karma" not only attacked the Billboard charts but also sought to reinvent the genre in real time.  | |  |
The hits kept coming, as 2007's As I Am yielded the huge singles "No One" and "Teenage Love Affair," and 2009's The Element of Freedom gave way to "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down" (a sequel to her chart-topping hit with Jay-Z) and "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" (a tag-team with Canadian hip-hop superstar Drake). But perhaps Keys' greatest song came early in the cycle for The Element of Freedom in "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart," which is probably the best Prince song the Purple One never wrote.
Alicia Keys Working on Fifth Studio Album, Due This Year
Alicia Keys' most recent release was the song 'Speechless,' a Swizz Beatz-produced track where the R&B songstress waxed poetic about her newborn son. Now, her longtime producer Kerry "Krucial" Brothers confirms that Keys is at work on a new album, which will hit stores later this year.
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At the ASCAP Grammy Brunch last weekend, Krucial told Rap-Up that he has been in the studio with the singer recording new material for her fifth solo album. "We do got a release coming this year, but I can't speak on it yet," he said, declining to give any specifics. "Last week we was in the studio working on stuff," he continued, explaining how the process was different this time around. "The writing is the same. The only thing changed is the schedule. We leave earlier now. No more to-the-crack-of-dawn stuff -- at least not for now."
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Keys' 2009 album 'The Element of Freedom' debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, racking up 417,000 in sales during its first week in stores. In recent weeks, the 'Empire State of Mind' singer has been spotted out and about with husband Swizz Beatz, including courtside at a Knicks game in New York City.
