Songs in A Minor
Songs in A Minor is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys, released on June 5, 2001, by J Records.
Songs in A Minor
June 5, 2001
1998–2001
63:04
- Arden Altino
- Miri Ben-Ari
- Kerry "Krucial" Brothers
- Jimmy Cozier
- Jermaine Dupri
- Kandi
- Alicia Keys
- Brian McKnight
Keys began writing songs for the album in 1995 at age 14 and recording the album in 1998 for Columbia Records, but after they rejected it, she signed a recording contract with Clive Davis's Arista Records and eventually J Records. An accomplished, classically trained pianist, Keys wrote, arranged and produced the majority of the album herself. It is a neo soul album with elements of R&B, soul, jazz, hip hop, blues, classical, and gospel music. Lyrically, the songs explore the complexities and various stages of personal relationships. Despite the album's title, only one song, "Jane Doe," is actually written in the key of A minor.[4]
Songs in A Minor debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 236,000 copies in its first week. The album has since sold over 7 million copies in the United States and 12 million copies worldwide. It was also an immediate critical success and has since been regarded as a classic. The album earned Keys several accolades, including five Grammy Awards at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Keys embarked on her first headlining concert tour, entitled Songs in A Minor Tour.
In 2022, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.[5]
Recording and production[edit]
Keys began writing the songs that would constitute Songs in A Minor at age 14, "Butterflyz" being her first composition for the album.[6][7][8][9] Keys had been accepted to Columbia University, which she attended after graduating from the Professional Performing Arts School at age 16.[7][10] She dropped out after four weeks to pursue her music career full time.[7] She signed a demo deal with Jermaine Dupri and his So So Def label. Keys co-wrote and recorded a song titled "Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing)", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1997 film Men in Black. She also contributed to the So So Def Christmas recordings.[11] Keys began producing and recording the album in 1998.[12] She completed it that same year, but it was rejected by Columbia Records. Keys explained that the producers she was required to work with by the label would tell her to "just get in the booth and sing", which frustrated her.[13] Her record contract with Columbia ended after a dispute with the label. Keys then performed for Clive Davis, who sensed a "special, unique" artist; he bought Keys' contract from Columbia and signed her to Arista Records, which later disbanded.[6][11][14]
Following Davis to his newly formed J Records label, Keys rented an apartment and struggled to create an album. She began writing the song "Troubles" and came to a realization: "That's when the album started comin' together. Finally, I knew how to structure my feelings into something that made sense, something that can translate to people. That was a changing point. My confidence was up, way up."[15] Keys learned how to produce by asking questions of the producers and engineers; she wrote, arranged and produced a majority of the album.[13][16] She recorded the songs "Rock wit U" and "Rear View Mirror", which were featured on the soundtracks to the films Shaft (2000) and Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), respectively.[17][18] One of the final songs Keys recorded was "Fallin'".[15] A total of 32 songs were recorded for the album.[19] Originally titled Soul Stories in A Minor, the title of the album was changed over concerns that it would limit exposure only to black radio stations.[13]
Music and lyrics[edit]
Songs in A Minor is a neo soul album with classical piano references and arpeggios.[21] Keys incorporates classical piano with R&B, soul and jazz into the album's music.[11][13][22] With influences of classical piano, classic soul and East Coast hip hop,[11] Keys described the album as a "fusion of my classical training, meshed with what I grew up listening to [...] things I've been exposed to and drawn from and my life experiences".[20] Jane Stevenson of Jam! described the music as "old-school urban sounds and attitude set against a backdrop of classical piano and sweet, warm vocals".[23] USA Today's Steve Jones wrote that Keys "taps into the blues, soul, jazz and even classical music to propel haunting melodies and hard-driving funk".[24] John Mulvey of Yahoo! Music called the album "a gorgeous and ambitious melding of classic soul structures and values to hyper-modern production technique".[25]
The album's opening track, "Piano & I", begins with a rendition of Ludwig van Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, combined with a hip hop beat.[26] The introduction is followed by "Girlfriend", which was produced by Jermaine Dupri.[11] Commended for its "crisp production",[27] the song samples Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Brooklyn Zoo".[11] Keys' cover of Prince's 1982 ballad "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" (retitled "How Come You Don't Call Me") was inspired by a long-term relationship with a partner.[11][28] The music critic for PopMatters felt that the song was credible, but fell short from the original and Stephanie Mills's 1980s cover.[11] "Fallin'", the gospel-driven lead single and often considered Keys' signature song,[20][29] contains a sample of James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".[11] The song earned Keys comparisons to Aretha Franklin.[30]
"A Woman's Worth", the second single released from the album, is a "gospel-tinged"[31] song that recommends that men show respect to their female partners.[32] "Jane Doe" is a funk-driven song, with backing vocals provided by Kandi Burruss.[11][32] "The Life", which elicits Curtis Mayfield's "Gimmie Your Love", describes Keys' "philosophy of life and struggle".[11] The song was compared to the work of the English band Sade.[31] "Mr. Man" contains elements of Latin American music[31] and was described as a "sexy and soulful duet", in which Jimmy Cozier "adds his spice".[32] The album ends with the hidden track "Lovin' U", which Christian Ward of NME compared to works of the musical group the Supremes.[31]
Singles[edit]
Davis sent the music video of the album's lead single "Fallin'" to MTV; "half the women had tears down their face" when the video finished playing.[19] The song was serviced to rhythmic contemporary, urban adult contemporary and urban contemporary radio stations in April 2001.[42][43] "Fallin'" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts, remaining atop the charts for six and four weeks, respectively.[35][44] It became the most played song in the United States at the time and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[45][46] Internationally, "Fallin'" peaked within the top ten in almost all countries it charted in, topping the charts in Flanders, the Netherlands and New Zealand, as well as the UK R&B Singles chart.[47][48]
"A Woman's Worth" was released as the album's second single on October 2, 2001.[49] It peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100.[50] The single was certified gold by the RIAA.[51] Internationally, the song reached number one in Croatia and top ten in Hungary and New Zealand.[52][53][54] The single's accompanying music video was directed by Chris Robinson, who directed the video for "Fallin'".[55] Its plot continues from the video for "Fallin'", which revolves around Keys' travel to her imprisoned boyfriend, and picks up where it left, depicting his release from prison and tries to acclimate to society.[55]
The third single "How Come You Don't Call Me" was released on March 11, 2002.[56] It peaked at number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100, failing to duplicate the commercial success of its predecessors.[57] Elsewhere, the song peaked within the top ten in Hungary and within the top 40 in Australia, Ireland, Scotland and the United Kingdom.
"Girlfriend" peaked at number 82 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart upon its 2001 release as a promotional single.[58] It was released as the album's fourth and final single outside the United States on November 25, 2002.[59] The song reached top 20 in Australia and the Netherlands, while peaking at number 24 in the UK.
Accolades[edit]
Songs in A Minor led Keys to win five awards at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best R&B Song for "Fallin'", Best New Artist, and Best R&B Album; "Fallin'" was also nominated for Record of the Year. Keys became the second female solo artist to win five Grammy Awards in a single night, following Lauryn Hill at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards (1999).[77] The album also won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album.[78] Keys was also named Best New Artist at the 2002 World Music Awards.[79] "Fallin'" was ranked at number 37 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years in 2003[80] and was ranked the 413th greatest song of all time by Blender magazine.[81] The album was ranked at number two on the Rolling Stone magazine's Top 10 of 2001, number 18 on The Village Voice's 2001 Pazz & Jop list, number 27 on Mojo magazine's Best 40 Albums of 2001 and was also named one of Q magazine's 100 Greatest Albums Ever.[82][83] Q also listed the album as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.[84] In 2009, Rolling Stone named it the 95th best album of the past decade, while "Fallin'" ranked at number 62 on the magazine's "100 Best Songs of the Decade" list.[85][86] In 2012, Entertainment Weekly ranked Songs in A Minor the 57th best album of all time.[87]
Commercial performance[edit]
Songs in A Minor debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 236,000 copies in its first week.[88] Through word of mouth and promotion, the album remained at number one on the chart, selling a further 221,000 copies in its second week.[89] The album spent a total of three non-consecutive weeks at number one,[15] and became one of the best-selling albums of 2001.[90] As of June 2014, the album had sold 6,348,000 copies in the United States.[91] Billboard ranked the album at number 32 on the Billboard 200 decade-end chart for the 2000s and at number 12 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums decade-end chart.[92][93] In 2001 the album was the 7th best-selling album globally, selling 6.7 million copies.[94] By March 2008, Songs in A Minor had sold over 12 million copies worldwide.[95] On August 19, 2020, the album was certified septuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and album-equivalent units of seven million units in the United States.[96]