*I uploaded this post a couple years ago, but it’s on my mind again. Here it is, enhanced with my selection of The 25 Great Alicia Keys songs (which are the only ones I listen to).
For a long time now, I've been picking up Alicia Keys albums here and there. For years, it was pretty standard to find maybe three good songs on each album, but they were good enough that I continued to keep an eye out for more of her music. "Fallin'", "If I Ain't Got You", "You Don't Know My Name", "No One", "Superwoman", "Teenage Love Affair", "Girl On Fire", "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart"...all great songs.
In the past six years, though, her work has been becoming increasingly reliable. Starting with 2016's HERE, which proved to be a refreshing changeup of her usual slick sound, the albums she's put out have been harder to reduce to a few songs. One thing I really appreciate is an artist whose work grows stronger over the years. Sadly, it doesn't happen all that often. Most artists (of any stripe) seem to motor along in their own lane, producing art that either stays the same or simply goes through variations. And, of course, there are those that only seem able to strike gold once before fading from view (Lief Enger, Harper Lee, Willard Carroll, MGMT, and countless musical one-hit wonders). But there is a real pleasure in recognizing talent and watching it honed over the years. Just in terms of actors, I've been enjoying this process with Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Colin Farrell, among many others. Keys has proven that -- at least as a songwriter -- she belongs to this group.
Her last few albums (HERE, ALICIA, Keys) have been truly good works with cohension and a steady level of quality. At the same time, she is taking more chances artistically and testing her own boundaries as an artist. For example, Keys is a double album: Disc One has a beautiful and simple piano bar vibe that I love, while Disc Two is basically the Alicia Keys album, made up of "Unlocked" versions of many of the same songs, which have gone through the radio R&B production process. (More Disc One, Alicia!!)
However, I remain conflicted over Alicia Keys as a brand. From television appearances, her desire to add "attitude" to her production, and her lyrical content...I don't like the woman. Along with Selena Gomez, she has a smooth, sultry speaking voice that I could listen to for hours (love the dream sequence in "You Don't Know My Name"), but I really don't need to hear her saying stupid things like "turn up the mic" before she sings a ballad or listen to her embellish her vocals with the cliché "uhn uhn" sound we have come to expect from all rappers the world over.
In the end, what has fixed the gulf between us is her general philosophy as imparted through her lyrics. I know that the past couple years have made me especially cynical, but I can't help rolling my eyes often at her words. It's been a long time since she was a poor city kid with big dreams. Poverty in the 21st century is very different than it was twenty-five years ago, and urban poverty has always been (literally and figuratively) miles away from rural poverty. So, as a poor middle-aged man in rural Pennsylvania in 2023, her vague inspiration about "rising up" through the sheer power of your passions rings a loud, naive bell. Her voice so clearly comes from a place of privilege and praise that she has inhabited for decades now. No matter how much I "put the time in to timeless" (a phrase I kind of love) or "keep on keepin' at what I love", the chances that my life will be radically changed by my undeniable talent are...nil. While I love her songs, I wince at the simplistic upward mobility she envisions for all worthy souls. Our worldviews are wildly divergent. I have a feeling that when she sings "the only dream that I've been chasing is my own", she means it as a good thing, while I recoil in pain.
And we shall never speak of her recent Christmas album...
The 25 Great Alicia Keys Songs
or The Only Alicia Keys Songs I Listen To
Songs in A Minor (2001)
Fallin’
The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003)
You Don’t Know My Name
If I Ain’t Got You
As I Am (2007)
Superwoman
No One
Teenage Love Affair
The Element of Freedom (2009)
Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart
Un-thinkable (I’m Ready)
Wait Til You See My Smile
Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down
Girl on Fire (2012)
Girl On Fire
Here (2016)
The Gospel
Pawn It All
Kill Your Mama
She Don’t Really Care_1 Luv
Girl Can’t Be Herself
Alicia (2020)
Time Machine
Authors of Forever
Underdog
Jill Scott
Good Job
Gramercy Park
Keys (2021)
Plentiful (Originals)
Skydive (Originals)
Best Of Me (Originals)
I think your selection is terrific. Alicia Keys has an amazing range and tone, all so genuine.