PASSION PROJECT/ALICIA KEYS

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PASSION PROJECT/ALICIA KEYS

When you think about R&B artists that incorporate hip-hop, especially when it comes to women in R&B, we think about Mary J. Blige, we think about Lauryn Hill, and I think we tend to skip over Alicia Keys and how she's from New York, and a great talented R&B artist who plays instruments, writes music, but also keeps very hip-hop.

It can be very important to the culture to display your art in a historical context. She does a lot of videos that incorporate hip-hop artists. She might put Method Man in a video, Common in her video, or songs with great hip-hop artists like Jay Z.

We all know Empire State of Mind, but I think even in her music, we still see the hip-hop touch in her songs, especially in her videos. Even bigger than hip-hop, she incorporates many civil rights moments. She has referenced the civil rights era, which focused on the terrible way that black people have been treated in America, and she takes her time to incorporate those visuals in her videos and music.

That’s very important. We need to celebrate Alicia Keys for being that type of artist because she takes on that type of bravery. When we take a look back at some of her catalogs, we will see that.