Alicia Keys

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Alicia Keys, born Alicia Augello Cook, came into the world in 1981 in Hell's Kitchen, a rough neighbourhood of Manhattan. Her mother raised her alone and played jazz records by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Thelonious Monk on Sunday mornings. From the age of seven Keys had classical piano lessons and played Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin. At twelve she wrote her first song and at fifteen she signed with Columbia Records.

Music and breakthrough

After a dispute with that label she released her debut Songs in A Minor on J Records in 2001. The album won five Grammys and contained the number one hit Fallin'. Next came The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003) with If I Ain't Got You, As I Am (2007) with No One, and The Element of Freedom (2009). That same year she sang the chorus of Jay-Z's Empire State of Mind. With Girl on Fire (2012) she again reached the top of the American album chart. Later she wrote the Broadway musical Hell's Kitchen, about the neighbourhood where she grew up.

Influence

Keys combines classical piano with soul, R&B and hip hop. The piano is often central for her, with a warm, powerful voice above it. This made her one of the most important R&B artists of the 2000s. Her music also shows how hip hop changed pop production: drum patterns from old records gained a new life in modern hits.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 2001Songs in A Minor
• 2003The Diary of Alicia Keys
• 2007As I Am
• 2009The Element of Freedom
• 2012Girl on Fire
• 2016HERE
• 2020ALICIA
• 2021KEYS
• 2022Santa Baby
• 2024Hell’s Kitchen (Original Broadway Cast Recording) (soundtrack)

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 6: Fear of a Black Planet^NL Reader

See also

• HERE
• ALICIA