Alicia's blog

  • 07.25.2011

    Stick Fly

    Sometimes you come across that rare piece of art that gets to you-- that takes you to a different place, and opens your eyes and your heart to a new horizon. For me, Stick Fly is that piece of art.

    Stick Fly is an incredible, moving and HILARIOUS play, that I’m so honored and excited to help bring to Broadway this winter. These profound characters bring you deep into the life of a family that is just like yours or mine-- capturing everything that goes with that: the outrageous, the funny and the secrets tucked away inside the family closet.

    My mother's greatest passion is the theatre and she introduced it to me very early in my life. I grew up right next to Broadway—I could see the glittering lights from our apartment. To produce a play like this is a dream come true for me. And to have the chance to share this play with an audience, night after night, in a beautiful theater, on the streets that I walked everyday as a kid with only "a pocket full of dreams"… can only be described as modern-day magic.

    My favorite thing about great art is the way that it gets to you, crawls inside your heart and lives there in a way you can't forget. I hope if you're in NYC this winter, you'll have the chance to experience Stick Fly, and that it moves you as much as did me.Weiterlesen

  • 05.02.2011

    Daily Inspirations: Why we do what we do at Keep a Child Alive

    Everyday in the month of May, Keep a Child Alive will share a story about a child, mother or family affected by HIV/AIDS and served by our work in Africa or India. Stories serve to move people and help them relate to others personally. There is no better way to explain the life-changing moments that happen at the sites we fund and we are making them available to you. A mother who feared for her child's survival now has access to the AIDS drugs her child needs or the 14 year old boy who has lost both his parents to AIDS, has to raise his 3 younger siblings and now has the support to care to do so are our daily inspirations. And why we continue to fight for people from our family. Not everyone can journey to Africa and India, so we're bringing the stories of new life, hope and dreams to you.

    Weiterlesen
  • 04.12.2011

    NEWS

    Remember that surprise I told you about? It's the 10th anniversary of songs in A minor in June! And we're putting out a Deluxe and Collectors Edition of the original record plus unreleased songs, a documentary, and my favorite part- two special, intimate, PIANO & I performances in New York and London!

    I can't believe it's been ten years since this record. I am so blessed to have fans like all of you, who've embraced my songs with such heart. THANK YOU for all these amazing years!!

    And this is still just the beginning!! Here's to an incredible future for all of us!

    With endless love, AK
  • 03.22.2011

    The Heroine Series #1: Mum Carol - Soweto, South Africa

    For Womens month, I’d like to talk about a couple of different tremendous women who make a difference everyday. They may not be on the news and they may not be famous, but they are the heroes in our world that make it turn. The first I’d like to introduce to you is….

    Mum Carol: An Extraordinary Woman

    A long crested eagle flies high above a Soweto Township, appearing with the dawn as it views the blend of earth and sky.Weiterlesen
  • 02.23.2011

    The Most Powerful Force in the World

    By Alicia Keys

    Lately I can't help but think of the most powerful force in the world... women.

    What an incredible mystery we are: So strong and capable, yet gentle and vulnerable. Extremely complex, with bodies made as God's masterpiece.

    Now that I'm a mother, I think of my mother often. I look at her through different eyes. I think of all she did for me, gave to me, gave up FOR me. I think of how much she loves me.Weiterlesen
  • 02.02.2011

    FREEDOM…Can you hear it?

    When people find themselves caught in a place where their dreams, hopes and ideas have nowhere to breathe or fly, something happens. Something that is so natural and powerful, like the water we seek when thirsty, or the food we need when hungry takes over. This energy to change, to move in a different direction produces a voice—a voice loud and strong enough to vibrate and shake the wall that attempts to oppress the will of the masses and the fight for the future.Weiterlesen

    Photo: 
  • 01.11.2011

    Speechless

    Creating this song and this video felt so amazing! You've been asking me about how I feel and how Egypt is, and I just wanted to come up with a special way to answer. It's so fly to be able to have a strong feeling, write it, record it and share it with you. Thank you for listening, thank you for your love!

    I'm looking at him now and I'm just in awe! Goodbye poet ;-) Seriously, there is so much to say, so much to write. I'm so excited about putting together my new record this year! Another journey I look forward to us going on together!

    Still speechless...

    With love
    AK" Weiterlesen
  • 11.12.2010

    …The Two Kingdoms..a parable..

    "I really love the way stories, like songs, can carry a message so strong, so loud and clear it rings in your ears and echos in the mind.

    Here's another one. I hope you feel this like I do!

    With love...

    …The Two Kingdoms..a parable..

    Once there were two kingdoms divided by a long and very high mountain ridge. In one Kingdom lived a population of young, ferocious Warriors who defeated and conquered other nations. Although this kingdom consisted of a proud and mighty society, their constant and continued conflicts in war resulted in life spans where no one survived past the age of thirty.

    On the other side of the mountain, in another Kingdom, a society of childless Elders lived in quiet and reverent peace, planting and cultivating crops while tending herds of sheep, goats and cattle.

    Separated by such a vast mountainous region of barren rock and snow, the two Kingdoms knew very little of one another with only the handed down tales and shabby rumors passed along by wayward traveler’s as their only source of awareness.

    One year, a great drought fell upon the Kingdom of young Warriors, devastating most of their crops and livestock. As the bitter cold of winter fell upon the Warrior kingdom, they began to burn everything to keep warm while killing what livestock remained for food. Eventually the youthful Warriors found themselves surrounded by the walls of suspicion and resentment. As the teeth of the famine dug deeper into their bellies, the shadow of chaos and desperation appeared even darker in the eyes of the young Warriors, as it hovered above their heads like the steel blades used in battles.

    A meeting was held among the leaders to decide whether or not to attack the kingdom of Elders. Not knowing what to expect and having never actually seen an Elder, there was uncertainty that there would be enough Warriors strong enough to fight. It was eventually decided that an emissary would be sent bringing the finest sword and shield as a symbol of strength to hopefully intimidate the Elders into submission thereby avoiding a battle they might not win.

    Passing through the kingdom of the Elders one day, another wayward traveler told of the great famine that had fallen upon the warrior kingdom. He told of how he barely escaped from the nearly barbaric behavior of the soldiers and of hearing a rumor that a Warrior would be sent to investigate the strength and resources of the kingdom.

    Fearing that the daily plumes of burning earth could possibly be the warnings of an attack, the Elders gathered in council to debate whether or not to send food and supplies to the starving Warriors before the arrival of their emissary, in the hope that it would prevent him from crossing the mountain into their kingdom.

    Also fearing the unknown ways of the Warrior kingdom and having never seen a Warrior, the Elders thought it best to send their own emissary to discover the reality of this unseen peril, with food and supplies that would convince the Warriors they posed no threat and only wished to live in peace.

    Five days and nights eventually brought the two emissaries to the top of the mountain ridge. The emissary from the Warrior kingdom gazed with amazement at the acres of bountiful crops and wildlife that stretched as far as his tearful eyes could see. Weak and exhausted, the emissary slowly descended into the lush valley toward the Lodge of the Councils. Collapsing at the door of the Lodge of the Councils, the Warrior emissary was quickly taken in and cared for with food, medicine and fresh clothing.

    Meanwhile, not far from where his fellow emissary stood, the Elder emissary looked down into the barren valley of burned wood, cold stone houses and metal monuments of war. The emissary wept as he looked back at his kingdom, before slowly walking down the side of the mountain into the scorched hell that lay before him. In spite of arriving at the Great Hall of Heroes with food and supplies, the Elder emissary was questioned and, in spite of his offerings, was taken prisoner.

    Overwhelmed by the offers of kindness and generosity, the Warrior emissary could hardly speak when asked about the actual conditions of his kingdom. Eventually, the Warrior emissary told the Elders of his nation and the terrible event that had left them at the edge of total devastation. He confessed that his fellow Warriors had considered attacking the Elders in the hope of finding enough resources to keep their people alive, but feared that the Elders would be too strong in their resistance and kill what was left of the Warrior kingdom. The Elders informed the Warrior emissary that they were the only ones left after suffering the cost of a Great War years before, that took the lives of all of their young. For the next several days, the Warrior emissary lived and studied the ways of the Elders and upon his departure was given a document declaring an everlasting peace between the two kingdoms and a book that told the history of the Elders.

    Upon the Warrior emissary’s return to the Warrior kingdom, it was learned that the Elder emissary had been taken prisoner. After informing the Warrior Council of his experience with the Elders, the Elder emissary was immediately released and offered escort back to his kingdom. Instead, the Elder informed the warriors that the return trip would be too difficult and if possible preferred to stay and teach the young warriors the culture and traditions of his people.

    As the harsh winter slowly gave way to the warmth of Spring, the Warriors began to reap the benefits of the Elder emissary’s teachings as crops returned for a bountiful harvest and weapons used to kill and conquer were re-tooled to farm the land and build new shelters for livestock.

    At the end of the first harvest, with the Warriors once again strong and healthy, the leaders of the kingdom asked the Elder emissary in what why could they repay him for the great lessons and service for saving their people. The Elder looked toward the mountain and replied, “You could build a road connecting our two kingdoms.”

    The young Warrior’s immediately began to build The Great Road, linking the two kingdoms and before the first snow of the next winter, members of the Elder Kingdom and the Warrior Nation were crossing the mountain ridge exchanging new ideas while discovering the treasures of the past.

    May we always remember and keep the generational link between the young and old that forms the eternal circle of life.

    Alicia
  • 10.26.2010

    I feel a song coming on

    Every moment is beautiful; delicious even! Every moment I'm learning and living in a way I never have before. Being present in a way I never have before. Existing in moments I never have before.

    Never have I felt so calm, so purposeful in taking the time to truly observe the world around me, to live in it fully and watch it, discuss it, put time toward it. It feels really incredible - so peaceful, so complete and long overdue.

    I'm grown, I'm confident, I'm secure, and so blessed to be these things.Weiterlesen

  • 02.24.2010

    …between reality and the dream… 

    A few nights ago, I caught a bit of a very popular talent show that searches across the country looking for the best singer.  (Believe it or not, I actually do get a chance to peek at the TV screen maybe once a week). Although I had fun listening to the various singing styles and genres of the contestants, what I found myself actually listening to, were the journeys some of them had taken to arrive at that moment in front of the Judges.Weiterlesen