www.aliciakeys.net
Alicia Key's multi-dimensional gifts emerged at age five. Born aware of her old soul yet living in New York's inner city amidst the dominance of Biggie and Jay Z, Alicia's natural talents blossomed into a rare mix of hip-hop flavor and insightful, wise-beyond-her-years songwriting. Highly sought-after by record labels that held good, old-fashioned bidding wars in her honor, Alicia signed to Arista Records in 1998. There, in the spirit of a genius like D'Angelo or Prince, she continued the process of writing, producing and recording the debut she'd begun penning at age 14. In late 1999, Alicia followed Clive Davis to his new J Records. Born and raised in Manhattan, the stunning, bi-racial Alicia Keys recognizes a number of influences including her ultra-supportive mother who told her "You can quit anything else but you can never give up on your piano lessons." Alicia also sites a teacher at the Professional Performance Arts School in Manhattan who, while she was majoring in Choir, gave her valuable instruction on her voice. "This teacher spent so much time with me, she became the closest thing to vocal training I received," Alicia recalls. At age 16, Alicia's outstanding grades allowed her to finish high school early. "I was so deeply involved in music, I had already outgrown all the pressure of high school cliques and gossip." Right out of high school, Columbia University accepted Alicia Keys and though she gave it a whirl, the desire to focus on music was the driving force over all else. |