The Stories Behind Alicia Keys' Hits | Noteworthy
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There are a few elements that reliably form the basis for an Alicia Keys song: heartache or infatuation, an essential tenderness and emotion made heavy with wisdom, a patiently unfurling melody and, of course, that voice, yearning and ready to break, even as it remains in control. Even though these building blocks have helped her stand apart from pop trends while forging a remarkable career, Keys says the making of a classic song is still a mystery to her.
Fifteen years after the release of her first album; 15 years after her first single, "Fallin'" went to No. 1 on the pop charts and became repertoire for televised singing competitions; 15 years after that first armful of Grammys, Alicia Keys says her songwriting has not become any more scientific. "Every time I write a song, I never know how it happens. And I kinda always wanna be like that," she tells Jason King in the latest episode of NPR Music's documentary series Noteworthy. "Some people are very mathematical writers, which is very intriguing. ... It's so opposite from me."
But, Keys says, "there are ingredients that make it more digestible. And for me, [that's] mostly a piano and a voice." Keys was drawn to the piano from an early age, and reaped benefits from the hours of practice she put in while friends were outside playing. "It provided me... focus, the ability to pay attention for a long enough period of time to make progress," she says. "And the actual knowledge of music, which then unlocked the ability to be able to write my own music and put my own chords and things I heard in my own head to different lyrics I felt. And I never, ever had to wait for anybody to write something for me."
In the earliest phases of her career, she says, artistic control was the first thing on her mind: "I would go into sessions already prepared with, 'Here's different groups of chords: I wrote this, I wrote this, I wrote this, I wrote this, I wrote this,' because they didn't believe that I could do all these things, that I could play and that I could produce and that I could actually write. I was like 15 years old, and they were like, 'I'm sure you have a cute little idea but let's get to the real music.'"
Since then, she says, she's learned that "if you try to control things too much, you miss the magic." Part of that has been a slow embrace of collaboration, though it was hard to let anyone into her writing process. "It's so vulnerable," she tells King. "Who wants to just bare their entire fears, insecurities, mistakes in front of people who can look at you and judge you and whatever? That's super, super scary."
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This interviewer was GREAT.
@klove33
7 жыл бұрын
Boi Wonder u need love
This is a FANTASTIC interview. What happened to interviews like this? Thank you so much NPR. You're a shinning star in the world of journalism.
@colevern7002
7 жыл бұрын
Boi Wonder Yo you bitter, son
@Intrepidus.
7 жыл бұрын
This insight is spot on. NPR NPR NPR! (Further, this interviewer is very skilled. He makes it look easy, and Alicia... my goodness, she's a light.)
@BrianAndersonPhotography
7 жыл бұрын
I already have, twice ;)
@BrianAndersonPhotography
7 жыл бұрын
Markus Arike I could but I'd rather leave it up as an example for everyone to see. I mean trolls are trolls and while this one is hateful I'm not feeling remotely intimidated or pushed around by it. I'm just not moved at all by it. It's sad actually. It's weak and insecure, and not the least bit of anything in my eyes. I rather just let it sit here and be the pathetic representation of humanity that it is since there's nothing that can be done for this kind of thing. Can't be kind, can't fight back. Doesn't matter. A troll like this is already getting more attention than it deserves ;) I could only hope for good things in this troll's life because if this is the life it has today that's really sad and I feel like humanity failed it.
@marike1100
7 жыл бұрын
+Brian Anderson I agree completely, but seeing my name next to that filth of a comment, two comments, is really, really bumming me out!!! YT won't do anything about it, but I don't want my name attached to his weird agenda. See what I mean?
For goodness' sake if only MORE interviews were like this, knowledgeable interviewer, questions with substance, and meaningful dialogue with an incredible artist. Is that asking for too much? LoL.
@BabyChallangeRSA
5 жыл бұрын
True
@itsjayden9971
2 жыл бұрын
I felt that !
Always feels like Alicia talks straight from the heart. Great quality!
@renewoods1149
6 жыл бұрын
Aica keys Happy Halloween love Lachelle Love
@carolellamuch9571
5 жыл бұрын
Yeah she's so authentic
This is what we need!!!! I don't care who dating who, who started a twitter beef and all that other bullshit. I love hearing the backstories and history behind the craft and artistry.
@dawnreed6830
5 жыл бұрын
💯💯💯
@woolfulrebellion
5 жыл бұрын
Yes!!!!!
@Inkay2x
4 жыл бұрын
madmann1000 AMEN!
@flua1508
4 жыл бұрын
Agree!!!
Notice how she asks questions back. She is NOT self absorbed.
Finally an interview solely on the music.. no drama, no gossip, only what matters. 🙏🏽
Definitely one of the best music interviews I've ever seen
Don't you just want to hug her...
@kristunthuntsi2145
5 жыл бұрын
Steve S this lady humbles me🤗
@6GorillaBiscuits
5 жыл бұрын
I bet she smells like lilacs, lavender and cocoa butter
@nccreativedesign
5 жыл бұрын
YES!
@nickbeggsaxl
5 жыл бұрын
Yep since 2001. 🌹🌷
@l.a.xl.a.x1810
4 жыл бұрын
Yes In the bed
Shout out to everybody involved in this project. I love Alicia Keys. Let's also give credit to the interviewer. He asked great questions and carried out a very fluid conversation. Thumbs up to the videographer as well.
she just gets better with time in every way. great interview.
This woman is so very talented and beautiful (inside and out). Thanks for giving us a look into her creative process.
I loved when she mentioned that 'New York' song is not just about New York, but about HOPE...
Love this.. Need more interviews like this that focus on the music and the art!
@eye2eyebttom360
7 жыл бұрын
Marta Hagen 100%.
@DanShureMusic
7 жыл бұрын
Yesssss!!
@VictorWerke
7 жыл бұрын
I totally agree!
@emelinej1
7 жыл бұрын
And well spoken, clever questions too!
@chels6991
7 жыл бұрын
4real
Best interviewer I've seen so far. He's actually LISTENING to the interviewee and not to respond but to prompt more from her!! Yes, SUBSCRIBED !
Salute to the interviewer, did his due diligence and is clearly a fan of her art, great interview..nicely filmed also
Kudos to the interviewer! Knowing her work that well made for an insightful interview. NPR: we need more interviews!
this interviewer is very intellectual. i like interviewer who challenges the artists.
NPR setting the bar again with an intelligent, engaging and honest interview. Alicia is so natural and forthcoming. She has really come into her element.
one of the best interviews I have ever seen....this guy is awesome, really honest and calm....and she of course is perfect
Oh God why don't we have more journalists like him. He is awesome.
Funny, a composer once told me music is "mathematical". Having a jazz musician as a father, it was a difficult concept to understand. But, I was indeed intrigued. Never heard it again until watching this video! Thanks for posting NPR
Love this gentleman's interviewing style, he knows how to have a natural conversation instead of a random number of interogative questions...refreshing.
@nokuthulachirwa9881
4 жыл бұрын
Lol, wouldn't have made this comment if I'd known so many people had made it so eloquently. Anyway, taking up space.
Alicia Keys is a legend, like why don't people understand!!
Tiny desk concert with Alicia anytime soon?....please!
@linolafettatnet
4 жыл бұрын
Tiny desk with Alicia Keys is now released :)
@knutroald5332
4 жыл бұрын
linolafettatnet big thanks for the tip👋🏼😌
@linolafettatnet
4 жыл бұрын
@@knutroald5332 You are welcome :) Enjoy the music :)
@Tsomy
4 жыл бұрын
Your wish has been granted
@paulabrown6840
4 жыл бұрын
She’s an angel on earth.
What an artist! What a woman!
@ssyippee
7 жыл бұрын
Boi - your ignorance and fear are showing big time...
I’m totally blown away. Keys conservative/RNB approach by keeping the piano alive and creating rather than computer generating melodies is beyond compare. True trademarks of a prodigy 👍🏼🔥
My favorite part was when they examined that empire state of mind song. I wish they focused on it more, there are sooo many questions i have about that record. We have not had a song as good as that in a looong time. But solid interview. Alicia is one of those human beings you want to sit down and just chop it up with there is a wealth of information to gain from her
Wonderful interviewer.
the only reason I like alicia so much is her ORIGINALITY. Other performers would sell out themselves, change their identity, but Alicia maintains her ORIGINALITY.
This is the kind of interview that I really like watching. So raw and intelligent.
love Alicia, love the interviewer, such a fantastic interview. So honest and warm. Wish we had more of this everywhere
Such an inspiring person. So much intelligience, she's been through a lot and she deserves all of her success. All hail the queen 😍😍
This was amazing. I really have to give Alicia Keys credit for tearing me away from a country music saturated environment and giving me a broad view of what R&B could be.
this is one of the best interviews ever!
I've loved Alicia Keys for years and years. But this interview has me fallin' in love with her all over again.... geeeeeez... :O
I'm not the biggest fan of her discography overall, but it's undeniable to me that "If I Ain't Got You" is a timeless, classic gem.
Probably the most intimate and deepest interview that we will ever see. Great job all around. /¶
As a Brazilian who just came back from NYC I could figure it out that the song is not only about New York (despite of the fact that the chorus keeps repeating the name of the city). "Empire State Of Mind" really speaks for itself, it is a song about HOPE to do whatever you have to do to feel "brand new" and "inspired" "Empire State" meaning the metaphor of bigness. Loved so much that she validated my perspective in this amazing interview. So much love for Alicia and for her brave spirit of putting out great songs and for pursuing her dream (over college lol). Oh this is lovely!
holy shit that final part when alicia sing i need a full performance pls is not something that i want, is something that i need!!!
I first heard her on Empire State of Mind when it first released, then her tributes to Jay Z and Tupac, then Holy War, and now I am writing this comment as I watch and listen to her talk. WOW. She is amazing in every way.
Fallin' always reminded me of James Brown's Man's Man's World. I came to appreciate Alicia Keys later than I should have.
@KuyaJayTV12
4 жыл бұрын
Freeman Burgess she used a sample of A Man’s Man’s World on Fallin.
Whole interview wonderful but The END, her voice that piano and that soul!!! Chills... Alicia's voice has always had soulful nuances that strike me deep and personally, forever love her 😍 💛
I like her so much more with out all the makeup. She's like a real person. She's got actual talent she doesn't need to cover her up. Unlike most of other singers who are only a mouth piece.
@Ashnesss
5 жыл бұрын
Pu Koh It's the way she presents herself and she makes sure that the topic is mostly about her music. She does talk about her family but not as much. She sees her career as work and treats it like work. That's why she seems different. The others can do it too but they choose not to. Also, she has kept her relationships private or away from public scrutiny. That's why she's known for her music. She doesn't do loud and over the top performances either. Everything adds up and gives us a certain image of her. This is obviously how she wants to be known and seen. If she wanted a different public image, she would've made different decisions.
I love Alicia keys ❤
Alicia Keys my God. I love, love, love everything about this Super Woman. Her music speaks to my soul. I got teary eyed watching this interview.
This woman is both incredibly talented and naturally beautiful! Listening to her songs is like listening to an angel: thank you for enlightening our existence with your great voice and music.
What a great journalist, focused on the art and the music.
perfect interview, great tone, connection,energy, and authenticity.
Very genuine and gifted musician in the true sense of the word.
Keys is one of the true genuine musicians who has broken into the stratosphere of mainstream music. Classically trained. True to her sound. Uses her celebrity to bring attention to meaningful causes.
I love this - thank you for doing that interview and putting it here!! She is just phenomenal inside and out - so impressed with her openness and her spirit!!
14:50 the signature Alicia vocols that I love
You can really tell that she’s all about the music. ❤️
Somebody, please! Where can I get the full recording of that performance of "Hallelujah" that was played at the end!?!? Please release it!! My God!
So intelligent so gifted!what a woman!i love her❤️❤️
this was absolutely wonderful interview!!!!
This is a amazing interview. Reminds me of the classic interviews when it was focus STRICTLY on the art and nothing more. What was the book he mentioned in the interview? I may go back and watch it again but I just wanted to ask.
what a quality interview. my heart was so full throughout the whole time.
Please make more interviews like this. I love, love, love the music, but the story, emotions, and process to create is just as good. Please, please, please make more!!!!
Omg it’s inspiring hearing her talking about learning piano and playing piano being that I’m learning it now. Giving me so much hope
One of the greatest in musics history, my personal favorite female singer of all times
Props to the interviewer
this was a really great interview ! thank you
Wow! She looks so beautiful in this interview! I've always loved the natural look of women but man, she looks better than ever with this.
@Ekis86
7 жыл бұрын
Made that comment after watching one minute. Now I've watched the whole interview, and now I'm in love.
best interview I've ever seen. humble, honest and completely natural. very impressed :)
the 15 minute thing is bs. we need more parts of this interview.
I could listen to her talk all day
This interview was incredible ❤️
“I like to keep meeting myself”. This woman! Beautiful all round.
one of the best interviews and interviewer and interviewee I've ever seen
@skabossJ
7 жыл бұрын
Boi Wonder You're better than that man.
@sophritoh
7 жыл бұрын
Boi Wonder not her fault she was born mixed...lol
@jiztel
7 жыл бұрын
childish as hell. that's why some people doesn't recieve the blessings they potentially deserve because they do wrong in life
This was such a beautiful and organic interview. Thank you.
In depth, great interview. Excellent questions! Alicia Keys, so down to earth. Love her! ❤️
That synthesizer over her right shoulder looks amazing. Now I have to lustily peruse the Moog website.
What a nice interview ! Love it.
This is amazing. Thanks NPR
True musician, true talent.
LOVE Alicia Keys! My queen! This was the best interview of her I have ever watched! So relaxed and real!
such a well done interview - my compliments!
Great conversation and capturing of the moment to all involved.
@colevern7002
7 жыл бұрын
Boi Wonder Damn son! Bitter af
This is an amazing interview😩🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
I loveeeee her story with the piano.....so inspiring to a young pianist
Thanks for allowing us to get to know Alicia Keys a bit more! She's really down to earth. Great interview.
Its rear i see this good of a interview in music. A conversation, not a monologue, about many aspects of music tied back to the artists view and stories.
Awesome interview. She’s a real sweetheart 😊
To see The most high get praised wholeheartedly like this makes the Tribulations all worth it
This interview has gotten me head over heels ❤
I just loved the way she is conscious of herself, her music, and her life. The interviewer also was amazing
Wonderful. What a bright spirit. I just luv her talent, spirit her reason and her natural ability to show up. The interviewer is very professional. U both make me really proud.
Amazing Alicia Keys 🎤🎹🎶♥️true artist, classic, soulful and authentic. Beautiful inside out. So much love! Really great interview with so much substance & depth. Love her even more 😍😍
This is a great interview!
Honestly I judged her for how I BELIEVED she fell in LOVE with her Husband."My Bad" ALECIA is just a GREAT PERSON & A TRUE ARTIST PERIOD!! & this interview truly shows it..
She's Awesome and true to her self. LOVE Alicia Keys.So Soulful sings from her heart.and she just gets better and better. God Bless her and her family.
Wow!! Great interviewer and Alicia is lovely. Such a humble person. Keep going girl :)
So glad I stumbled onto this. I always felt Alicia is one of those truly unique, FOR REAL artists out there... now this interview shed more light on that. Amazing. In one way it reminds of me of Lauryn Hill, one of my favorite artists too and so love how she slipped into 'what mainstream media' expected off her then did something that's totally her
@marike1100
7 жыл бұрын
Lauryn Hill isn't even in music anymore, she's washed up. What was that about leagues?
@marike1100
7 жыл бұрын
***** lol, Hill made millions from the "corrupt" music industry, but don't rewrite history, she didn't drop out, she still got paid, just refused to pay taxes, even went to prison for tax evasion. When she released a comeback song in 2008, it was terrible. She did festivals but they didn't go well. She was difficult and erratic, even her bandmates in the Fugees couldn't stand to work with her. But she has a moment back in the day. Keys is a 15 Grammy winner, total package singer/songwriter/pianist, she's a philanthropist and activist. Not sure why anyone would want to bad mouth Keys, but welcome to the internet.
@jlaurenk
7 жыл бұрын
M Jamal I've always been saying that she's the modern day Lauryn!! Especially her latest album has so many similar vibes.
@mjamal2467
7 жыл бұрын
Yesss. I mean, lyrically Lauryn is on a whole other level in her own league.. still, these days there's so few artists that sing with soul. Which reminds me, last week I was hitting replay on Mary J Blige's "911" -- I remember when that first came out, songs with soul leave a memory imprint
@marike1100
7 жыл бұрын
"So few artists who sing with soul"? What now? Never heard of Frank Ocean, Anderson .Paak, Gary Clark Jr, Esperanza Spalding, Janelle Monae, and a whole bunch of other artists I'm too lazy to type?
BEAUTIFUL INTERVIEW... I LOVE THE STORY BEHIND THE MUSIC.. AND ALICIA LOOKS AMAZING LIKE THIS
Great interview. She is adorable.
Prolly maybe her best ever interview. Insightful as fuck.
"Empire State of Mind" is a song performed by American rapper Jay-Z and featuring vocals by American singer Alicia Keys that was written by Angela Hunte and Jane't Sewell-Ulepic.
@ZeruWilde
5 жыл бұрын
First of all, empire state of mind is a whole alicia song outside of the version with jay z and second these are all the writers and it includes her Alexander Shuckburgh / Alicia Augello Cook / Angela Hunte / Bert Keyes / Janet Sewell / Shawn Carter / Sylvia Robinson
this is a beautiful interview and a smart black brother doing this too