Sure, the girl has some talent, and she is cute, but why the hell does she make me feel so unsatisfied? And she has this habit of having a real good song be her first single, but after that her songs are merely good, not great. Her albums are always full of filler; even the Prince remake left me cold.

Does anyone get why this girl is so well loved? Give me Rahsaan And TTD any day.

In the land of the blind...

2freaky4church1 said:

Probably for the same reason that most new R&B is loved - the people loving it haven't heard the real stuff - it was before their time.

That's exactly how I feel. I didn't buy The Diary BECAUSE I heard it.

And she should be right up my alley with the whole hiphop vibe.


I've been trying to figure out what it is.

I don't dig her voice a whole lot. I find her material rather derivative. I don't feel like I learn who she is through her music.
[Edited 9/22/05 16:33pm]

CinisterCee said:

That's exactly how I feel. On top of that, since day one she's been sold as "the next big thing," when she isn't doing anything that hasn't been done better before her time. But in a barren music biz that's devoid of actual harmony and real instrumentation, she stands out from the rest. Her success has more to do with the state of music than it does her talent (which is, to be honest, somewhat worthwhile).

It's not like I find her music following in a tradition... it is derivative! Not in a cool quoting type of way either, but in a way that just sounds like an inconsistant style.

But, like I said, both Fallin and I Don't Know Your Name are great, but beyond that.

A Woman's Worth is so smarmy, it makes me wanna puke.

2freaky4church1 said:

She's trying real hard to have cred' and it shows.

2freaky4church1 said:

I liked "I Ain't Got You" a lot more than "You Don't Know My Name".

2freaky4church1 said:

Yeah! See those are two great songs.

When she starts on "You Don't Know My Name"

baby baby bayyybehhh!!


you're like !

but then you hear that joint "Karma" on the radio and you're cold.

She's okay at best, but nothing special. What I don't understand is the level of hate she gets from some people.

all perfect responses so far, could just be a trained musician playing soul instead of having or being around it, music is a state of consciousness, or so most hip-hoppers would tell you so.

mattperry said:

no not really. alot of people just really genuiunly like her, why is that so hard to believe? my mother, for example LOVES her, this is a woman who was there, this is a woman who listens to janis joplan, santana, labelle, curtis mayfield, aretha, fivestairsteps, etc..etc..she was there and she digs alicia.
i listen to some of those same artists that my mother does, and i love alicia. some people just really are in2 her.

the problem is, i think, is that when she came out they labelled her female stevie, next big thing, etc..etc.. and alot of folks believed the hype, so when she came out with songs people scrunched their noses like, that aint nothing. step away from the hype, i'll be the first to admit (huge ak fan here) that she dont live up to the hype, but i take her for what she is

Can't stand Karma.

2freaky4church1 said:

This is one of my most hated songs of all-time.

minneapolisgenius said:

That's been replaced by D's C "Cater To You".

That song is as fake as their weaves

PFunkjazz said:

I don't even know who, or what that is.

I should be glad, right?

oh, do you mean Destiny's Child?
[Edited 9/23/05 14:05pm]

minneapolisgenius said:

uhh huh

PFunkjazz said:

No wonder I didn't know what you were talking about. I can't stand them.

minneapolisgenius said:

I'm surprised you know this song. It less than five years old.

RipHer2Shreds said:

On target, rip. I agree. I seen Alicia live at The Wiltern and it was so so. She had a great band and even better backup singers, but Alicia herself just wasn't doing it for me. And if u can't bring it live, then...

i have never really liked alicia either. she is talented but no more talented than people i actually know. a lot of my friends played classical music growing up. a lot of my friends now are good songwriters. a lot of my friends have so so voices. nothing special about keys to me. i respect her talent but.....well.....umm.....i really can't stand her voice. it's missing something. she seems passionate when she sings but i just don't feel it.

sextonseven said:

They used to play it on the radio over here all the time. And it was also used for a tv commercial here as well.

Moonwalkbjrain said:

good answer...to that previous response. My mother liked Alicia as well and I think she's ok. I never hopped on the Alicia keys bandwagon but to say those that do like her don't know "real" music is silly. At some point, music is subjective. You like what you like and its not about "real" music vs "not real" music.

2freaky4church1 said:

A friend of mine brought to my attention something that I never noticed before, But it's true. Alicia's hit "Fallin" Sounds just like James Browns hit "It's A Mans World"! Especially the piano part. Listen to it. You can practically sing the chorus verse to verse on both songs. Anyways, I still like Alicia. And your right. Her albums only have a few good songs on it with the rest being okay, But I think that that's the record company's doing right there. She's got a good head on her shoulders, and I like the fact that she refuses to use sex to sell her records like most of her peers do. She'll have a long career with Clive Davis in her corner.

Rhondab said:

exactly.
[Edited 9/24/05 8:31am]

[b]wat's this stuff with Alicia, i'll take Mya anyday anytime!

ThePunisher said:

That's becuase she samples James Brown in 'Fallin',

doesn't she?

I think Alicia Keys is very talented,but she is also very overrated.I mean,she has won about 10 or 11 Grammys already!! In 1999,when they gave Lauryn Hill 5 Grammys for 'Miseducation',she totally deserved it.Her album is one of those career-defining albums that actually had something to say.But Alicia's music consists of harmless,lightweight R&B love songs.It's pleasant to listen to,but hardly worthy of all the acclaim.It's gotten to the point where,she could do a lame duet with Usher ("My Boo") and they're ready to hand her several awards for it.Her next single could be a song about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches,and the Grammy voters will nominate it for Song of the Year (lol).

CinisterCee said:

Right ON.
I've expressed the exact same thing to fellow music lovers.
So many R&B artists today are busy emulating their heroes to the point where we don't get a sense of who they are or what they're about individually.