for success?

Alicia Keys-As I Am
Released-Nov 13th


Beyonce-I Am
Released-Nov 18th




The release date, album title, black and white album cover, crossover songs. Alicia had the top selling album of last year. It wouldn't be too far fetched to think they are modeling a little after it.

beyonce is always following somebody's formula for everything she do,it wouldnt be so bad if she at least waited a few years before she swagger jack but this chick will repeat something that was just done by another artist a few months ago.

Yet another reason to say it


I can't stand Beyonce.

I was thinking this the other day, about the title, the theme of "defining" herself, and her just wanting respect as an artist not just a pop star. And simply, shes not going to get it, that simple. Beyonce is not alicia and cant be, thats not saying anyone one is better than the other, its just that Beyonce is in a different field, she is still a performer first long before musician/writer/artist, despite writing some of her stuff. This would be like Michael Jackson trying to compete with prince as a musician, alright not that drastic but that is the type of difference between Alicia and beyonce.

Alicia Keys is a hundred times better than Beyonce. Her songs have no charakter or melodies. I don't think in 20 years a teenager will find a connection to songs like Crazy In Love or Baby Boy.

graecophilos said:

Her songs :"If I Aint Got You", "You Dont Know My Name" and "Fallin" are classics. I can see those songs still being played and sampled 10-20 years from now.

only thing orignal about beyonce his ability 2 lie her ass off about what she does and her craft this girl is not all that she will copy a dead man if she thought being dead would bring her greater fame honey go sit down and let some real singers like chrisette michelle and alicia take center stage

NaughtyKitty said:

"You Dont Know My Name" has a sample in it!

MikeMatronik said:

Believe it or not i didnt get into Alicia till album 2, i wasnt big on her during the first album, but as people say they see "no" growth i clearly see the growth between her first and third records, i mean just listen to "sure looks good to me" off her latest album and wonder about that growth and also why nBeyonce is not in her arena

lastdecember said:

There def is a growth. Ass I Am sounds different than the Song in A Minor. The first album had hip hop beats and some songs that were supposed to sound current and old skool at the same time.

On thge third album she had not only black influences

Alicia has that singalong factor that Beyoncé lacks...One cannot sing to "Get Me bodied".

is this what alicia keys fans are convincing themselves?

"as i am" or "i am" are not original titles. chrisette michelle's album came out before either and her album cover was black & white. the date (which are not the same) doesn't mean anything either. dont get the point unless alicia keys latest album was a double disc as well?
[Edited 10/21/08 14:53pm]

LoveSong69 said:

the date means that she's going to get them before thanksgiving holiday sales, and christmas sales. im sure they are hoping the album performs the same way alicia's did, which is why it's going to be released at basically the same time.

the only reason it's a double album, i think, is because beyonce is too scared to risk it all by having that crossover sound, so she's trying to take a risk and keep her original fans at the same time.

dragondayz said:

I think its also a nod to xtina's "back to basics" although im sure Beyonce is not going to change her formula like that. I think Beyonce feels that she isnt respected like Alicia in the RB forum and not like Xtina is in the pop forum, the way she would like to be. But Beyonce i feel is in the same spot that Mariah has been for most of her career, and that is struggling for respect but trying to get it with songs like Bug-a-boo. Dont get me wrong, Beyonce is great, one of the best performers out there but at the same time there are Huge klimits on what she is capable of. She needs to get out from under the wing of ddaddy and really let it fly, not sell, or at least not be afraid not to be popular, Right now its all too calculated, even the things that are said to be "groundbreaking" are being thought up by a market group and board members in meetings.

As far as the formula, SONY is praying that this project can do half of what alicia did during the xmas season last year, i dont think theres a chance in hell that it will, for the simple reason, the audience difference, and just the fact the industry is down 25% this year, so i think, for sales, they should be happy if they get a quarter of what Alicia's cd pulled in.

was thinking this the other day

i think her album will perform very well, especially since it's a double album so if she sells 500k it will ring up as a million in 1st week sales. they are very smart.

she'll do good but not great saleswise.

Though I agree Beyonce copies everything, it's not like mj and prince are immune from it. I saw many 80's videos that mj later ripped off too but made his own eg. the intro of black or white being inspired by the intro to that twisted sister video, and the face morphing was done in the early 80's too though I can't recall by who though mj enhanced it, those are just examples.

I think Beyonce and Alicia both offer something good, I liked Alicia's first two albums a lot, I'm not really feeling the third album though it might grow on me in the future since her music has a timeless sound and will last long unlike beyonce. Beyonce has great talent to do the same, but she has a lot of disposable songs catered to the ringtone crowd that will not be remembered years from now.

i highly doubt that bey had alicia in mind while picking that title. why the hell would she?

MikeMatronik said:

You're not supposed to sing to that song....u're supposed to do the sizzle-leg!