I raised this issue in the Prince forum, but I thought I'd start a topic here on it's own :

I never thought Alicia was gay, but I always thought she tried WAY TOO HARD to be down with the homies, so to speak . Here's a girl who was admitted to Columbia University , one of the best schools in America, and is a classically trained pianist, yet when you see her in interviews she tries to come across as a Harlem hoodrat . This speaks to another issue : why some people believe to be truly "Black" you have to act "ghetto". And I'm sure that Alicia, being beautiful. light-skinned, and bi-racial, feels that she has to work overtime to "prove" her Blackness .
There's a good book that covers these issues : "Authentically Black" by John McWhorter

Or is it just a pose to sell records? Jenny's from the block, too, you know.

But Justin Femberlake is keepin' it real, y'all. He's from the 'hood.

Yeah, I always wondered what was up with her image thing, myself...

RipHer2Shreds said:

does he even exist anymore?

i have no respect for this woman.....i was holding off on her cause i figured shew as a newbie and all and that with time her music would mature...so i didnt diss her at first...i just sorta let her be...ingored her music cause it wasnt my thing.....until:

1) that horrid grammy performance when she danced?


and

2) My Boo....


that bitch is fake!! from masking her love of pussy to fronting the ghetto...this bitch aint showed her true self to the world..and until she does that i will take every oppurtunity i can find to blast this b-level worthy act!!!

sosgemini said:

OUCH! And I thought your Madonna criticisms were harsh

sosgemini said:

yes, I like her too

DavidEye said:

the funny thins is, i like madge.....but, come on!! madonna fans be saying the silliest things up in this place...

its like, i like 5star and coming here saying they are the best act of all time....(waits for chico to chime in..)

Well, I always wondered about that too but my first time seeing Alicia was on Teen Summit back in 97 or 98, and her image was waaayyy more homie-like then it is now.

Plus I've seen the pics of her signing her first contract at 15 or 16 and she had braids like Snoop in her hair, so it's hard to say if it's something that her company designed to make her appeal. All of this stuff was before Clive.

This boy on another board said that he went to school with her and she was the flyest chick in the school. I take what I hear with a grain of salt, but if it is true then I believe that Alicia is who she is.

paligap said:

I never did. I figured her fake ass right away!

She & Kanye West are the PRIME examples of those who're striving to get a "street credibility" even tho both are from a VERY DIFFERENT & STABLE inviroment. They act like they're from the GHETTO when in fact they got it good and easy, one raised by an ACTRESS, the other was raised by a TEACHER who travled the world. I roll my eyes till I get a headache everytime I hear her phony ass say she always walks around with a KNIFE in her pocket. But stereotype plays a BIG role in the industry since the get-go,,back in the day, black folks were forced to act like they're from the jungle, nowadays they're forced to act like from the hood(American version of the jungle of course).

And its the trend nowadays,,,act FAKE!

dragondayz said:

This may be true, but somehow I doubt that when she was applying to Columbia University, she said to the recruiter : "Yo, I wants to go to this muthafuckin school", or when she was learning classical piano would say to the teacher "Let's play some of dat Beethovan shit" (LOL !)

Probably, she learned how to present herself in different ways under different circumstances. I just get the impression that she tries too hard to be self-consciously "Black" at times . This may be a result of her being bi-racial and light complexioned. I've known many light-skinned Blacks who seemed to work overtime to "prove" that they were "down" with the people
[Edited 2/7/05 10:27am]
[Edited 2/7/05 10:28am]

Harlepolis said:

Kanye West doesn't try to act ghetto. Everythime I hear him talk I get that he's being very passionate about what he's saying, especially his music.

I don't recall him carrying weapons, dressing like a thug, or talking like one.

jjhunsecker said:

Lol, I also doubt that she said any of that. She actually never talks like that and whatever image she had in the beginning has been toned down a whole lot. Alicia comes off, to me, as a cool girl that adapted to a bit of everything she was around.

She spoke in front of Congress and helped pass a bill on AIDS, but she also grew up around rappers like Loon, so she has bit of this and that in her.

jjhunsecker said:

I agree with you that she's able to adapt to different circumstances. When she's giving award acceptance speeches, she is very articulate and carries herself well and when she's just chilling, maybe she's a little more "street". I don't think she's a phoney, she's just trying to have everyone relate to her no matter what race, age, background, etc. I really like A. Keys and I think she's a great role model in this day and age of crap, music and no talents.

dancerella said:

ive heard many say the same about her music...

sosgemini said:

Lol, well people have their opinions on every artist, and Alicia nor her music will always get praise, and nothing is wrong with that.

I think she's a good writer, piano player, singer and person. I can tell she puts work into her music and I will never fault her for that because doing it yourself isn't easy. There's improvements that can be made, as with most, and I believe she will make them.

jjhunsecker said:

Hmmm..that is a really interesting topic. I am not black but I am bi-racial (my mother is white and my father is from Brazil) I think alot of Bi-racial children feel pressured to identify with one of their racial groups. Alesha may feel that since she plays more R&B music she may need to act/speek ghetto to be accepted by black audiences. It is quiet silly if you think about it but alot of people play into ignorant steryotypes simply becuase people in groups resist originality. I hate how I feel I have to hang out with black friends and white friends seperatly. They act like they are seperate species sometimes when if they interacted more they probably be surprised how much they would have in common. It is also annoying when people find out I like Prince, old school funk and old school rap, breakdancing ect. just because I don't talk "ghetto" or dress "hip hoppy" and am into a lot of new wave music and some alterantive rock. I guess I act more "white" but I am also extremly proud of my Brazillian heritage. They act like "Oh you know who Parlament is?" I just want to roll my eyes!! Duhhh!

At times I have seen even Prince seem to feel torn on how to behave/present himself and I don't belive he is even bi=racial. I have noticed when he goes on like BET he uses alot more "black" slang than he does when he is talking to Matt Lauer on the Today show. But I don't think there is anything wrong with that. He should be pround to be black but also I love how he can eaisly relate to white people and they feel at ease around him.

Oh well thanks for that title of that book. Seems like it will be an intersting read. I an gonna go to Barnes and Noble and look for it.

Damn, why y'all hatin' on her so?
1. You can fake the funk on her talent. She can play the piano like nobody's business and she can sing. She doesn't have a bunch of electronic fillers and studio work behind her.
2. I don't think she acts "ghetto." (And on a side note, it really irks me when people use the word "ghetto" to describe a certain type of behavior, mostly regrading black people. A ghetto can be white, black, Puerto Rican, etc. The word ghetto itself describes a neighborbodd defined by its economic and social status).
3. She might not have a "traditionally feminine" voice when she speaks, but that's how she speaks. And I don't see how that's perceived as ghetto.
4. She's never had any qualms about being a bi-racial child. If she chooses to identify with either her white roots or blacks roots is totally up to her. And sometimes, that comes down to what you're taught as a child. She looks like a light-skinned black woman or a mulatto woman to me. I have a bi-racial nephew, who doesn't look mulatto. He looks like a black teenager, but he lives with his mom, who is white. Even though he has mixed heritage, the world will perceive him to be black. He identifies with both heritages, just as I think Alicia does.
[Edited 2/8/05 5:55am]

1sexymf said:

see, this is where your going to get the biggest disagreement....When I first heard her play live I realized that her playing was rather stiff...And if you look at her finger movements you can tell that the playing doesnt come natural to her. At times I almost feel like she is grasping to get an understanding of where here fingers are to go next.

then, trained players and observers here (and other places) started commenting on her lack of skills on the keys which leads me to the conclussion that:
























she sucks donkey arse on the piano..

Krystal666 said:

People act/react differently depending on what environment they are in. That's natural. There are ways of relating to people around you that are more comfortable and/or appropriate on, say, BET, that with people on, say, The Tonight Show, simply because those people relate in a different way. You can tell who is genuine and who is trying too hard. Alicia Keys always seems to be trying too hard.

She is such a pretty, talented girl, but the second she opens her mouth, I want to jab pencils in my ears!

jjhunsecker said:

Isn't she from Hell's Kitchen? Anyway...

While I understand what some people are saying about her trying too hard to prove her blackness. I don't understand what being a classically trained pianist who had an opportunity to attend Columbia has to do with where she was raised and what her mother did for a living. Poor people from, poor and middle class neighborhoods have skills that would enable them to do the same things.
(I've never heard of her mother and I don't recall anyone ever posting what exactly she's been in. Actresses don't make a lot of money unless they are high profile. And her mom defintely does not fall in the Meryl Streep category.)

And this comment is not directed to your post only but other posts on this thread


.
[Edited 2/8/05 7:32am]

Ifsixwuz9 said:

Exactly. Alicia Keys grew up in Hells Kitchen. The way she acts is not an "image". Anyone growing up in that type of enviornment is going to pick up traces of the attitude.

Ifsixwuz9 said:

What my point is that when I see her on awards shows like the Grammys or the Soul Train Awards or whatever, she falls into a stereotypical "Black" Homegirl type speech and attitude, and I wonder how natural that is, and does she feel that she has to speak and behave in certain manner to be accepted.
The reason I mention the acceptance into Columbia and the classical training is to point out that she has had experiences and educational opportunitiest hat most people from a so-called "ghetto" environment do not have, and in those environments the type of speech patterns that she goes into in public would not necessarily be "accepted". I understand that people will try to change to fit their environment, we all do it . But the issue to me is why can't a Black person like Alicia feel comfortable speaking in (for lack of a better term) a "non-ghetto" manner in front of her people.
(and I know this isn't necessarily relevant, but I am Black myself, so I sometimes ponder this issues. Maybe a bit too much LOL )

jjhunsecker said:

Thank you!!! You've said what I've thought all along (except the "gay" part, I'm still not sure about that ). I might have to check out that book too!

To me her ghettoness isn't THAT extreme. I've seen worse (Jada Pinkett when she first came out. Viviva Fox from time to time). Alicia has that deep, quiet storm voice that might emphasize her d-w-t-h shtick, but she's cool. She's never been bleeped on television and speaks in complete sentences so back off!

CynicKill said:

Does she ever say, "Knowwhutumsayin'?"

UptownDeb said:

Never heard that, but back in the day she might've dropped a few big-ups and holdin-it-down's. Someone clarify for me if a word-is-bomb was ever dropped.
[Edited 2/8/05 13:52pm]

Odd that Mc hammer really was from the hood (hood of oaktown) yet if asked u'd all proberly call him fake. Hammer didn't rap about thug shit.....

As 4 vanilla ice