Alicia Keyes

Her official website says she possesses an "old soul," and the hard facts seem to back up the
implied claim of wisdom and experience that transcend Alicia Keys' youth. Barely in her twentiess,
Keys is responsible for an extremely hot debut, Songs in A Minor. The release, which she wrote
and produced for Clive Davis' J Records, blends diverse influences, including R&B, hip-hop,
classical, and jazz. The day the album went on the market, it sold more than 50,000 copies. Label
executives confidently predicted similarly favorable numbers for the first week's tally.
Around the time that Songs in A minor was released, Keys was popping up everywhere, including
an Associated Press story. Where had she been before then? Her entire life, it seems, had been an
accelerated learning experience, preparing her for a career in music. A Manhattan native, her
musical gifts became apparent when she was five years old. As a choir major enrolled in
Manhattan's Professional Performance Arts School, she further developed her vocal talents with
extra help from a teacher. By the time she was 16, Keys graduated and entered Columbia
University. Music beckoned, however, and she quickly left Columbia behind.
Keys was writing songs when she was 14, with seven years of piano lessons under her belt by that
time. In later years, she appeared on movie soundtracks, including Shaft and Men in Black. In
1998, she signed a deal with Arista Records when the company triumphed in a bidding war over
other labels. When Davis left the company for J Records in 1999, Keys went along. Davis
promoted the careers of such artists as Carlos Santana and Whitney Houston, and part of his
launch strategy for Keys was to secure exposure on BET and MTV, as well as on The Oprah
Winfrey Show.