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Songs in A Minor es el álbum de estudio debut de la artista estadounidense Alicia Keys. Fue lanzado en los Estados Unidos el 5 de junio de 2001 por J Records. Después de graduarse de la escuela secundaria, Keys firmó con Columbia Records para comenzar su carrera musical. Grabó un álbum en 1998 bajo la etiqueta, que rechazaron. Posteriormente, su contrato terminó con Columbia después de una disputa con la etiqueta, y Keys luego firmó con Clive Davis. Un pianista consumado y de formación clásica, Keys escribió, arregló y produjo la mayoría de las pistas del álbum. Contrariamente a su título, el álbum contiene solo una canción, "Jane Doe", en clave de A minor. Tras su lanzamiento, el álbum recibió críticas generalmente positivas de críticos de música, quienes notaron su habilidad para captar un sonido de jazz de la vieja escuela y mezclarlo con R&B y melodías soul. Keys fue comparado por críticos con artistas como Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Billie Holiday, Prince y Lauryn Hill. El álbum le valió a Keys varios premios y reconocimientos, incluidos cinco premios Grammy en la 44a entrega de los premios Grammy. Songs in A Minor debutó en el número uno en la lista Billboard 200, vendiendo más de 236,000 copias en su primera semana. Ha vendido más de 6.2 millones de copias en los Estados Unidos y doce millones de copias en todo el mundo. La revista Rolling Stone nombró a Songs in A Minor el segundo mejor álbum de 2001, y lo ubicó en el número 95 en su lista de los mejores álbumes de la década de 2000.
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Three discs, one of which is a DVD; swish silver cut-out, fold-out packaging; sleevenotes by Quincy Jones; and track annotation by the singer herself. This is an extravagant package that works beautifully on two levels, either as the perfect complement to the original album ”“ included here, obviously ”“ or as the very best place to start. And this is because it digs fairly deep into who Alicia Keys is and what she was about when she made this stunning debut, now celebrating its 10th anniversary.
The extensive booklet opens with the singer’s simple but impassioned mission statement about New York ”“ very much part of the sleeve design ”“ and how the city’s streets fused with her classical training to allow the then-teenager to express herself so vividly. She then goes on to talk each track with an enthusiasm for every aspect of the process.
The specially-made documentary tells her story up to Songs in A Minor’s claiming of five trophies at the 2002 Grammy Awards, setting itself against dramatic New York footage and making room for entertaining comments from people who worked with her. Keys herself is funny, charming and remarkably candid. She talks forthrightly about the battles with her first label, Columbia ”“ they trashed this album, and wanted her to turn her into a standard RnB bunny; she refused, they wouldn’t let her leave, and it almost crushed her. She’s equally open in her delight and obvious surprise at the album’s success. Most of all, though, what is shown proves how dedicated Keys is to making music.
Disc two collects together alternate mixes of tunes like A Woman’s Worth (a tastefully inventive vintage hip hop version, featuring Nas) and the sparser Butterflyz as it was heard in the 2002 film Drumline; elsewhere, three live recordings from a Seattle show display her accomplished musicianship and easy way with an audience. What makes the disc really special, however, is the previously unreleased Ghettoman, a moody, edgy inner city lament made eerily beautiful by a jangling piano. It’s a blaxploitation theme looking for a film, and why it never made the album is anybody’s guess.
Oh yes, the original album ”“ it still stands strong 10 years later, as a masterpiece of contemporary soul songwriting and arrangement. It continued a bloodline from Etta James, Gladys Knight, Aretha, Esther Phillips and Roberta Flack into the hip hop age, and was ultimately made possible by Keys’ astonishing musical sensibilities.
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