Songs in A Minor
Encyclopedia
Songs in A Minor is the debut studio album by American recording artist Alicia Keys
. It was released in the United States on June 5, 2001 by J Records
. After graduating from high school, Keys signed with Columbia Records
to begin her music career. She recorded an album in 1998 under the label, which they rejected. Her contract subsequently ended with Columbia after a dispute with the label, and Keys later signed with Clive Davis
. An accomplished, classically
-trained pianist, Keys wrote, arranged and produced majority of tracks in the album. Contrary to its title, the album contains only one song, "Jane Doe", in the key
of A minor
.
Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who noted her ability to catch an old-school jazz
sound and mix it with R&B
and soul
melodies. Keys was compared by critics to such artists as Aretha Franklin
, Stevie Wonder
, Billie Holiday
, Prince
and Lauryn Hill
. The album earned Keys several awards and accolades, including five Grammy Awards at the 44th Grammy Awards. Songs in A Minor debuted at number one on the Billboard 200
chart, selling over 236,000 copies in its first week. It has sold over 6.2 million copies in the United States and twelve million copies worldwide. Rolling Stone
magazine named Songs in A Minor the second best album of 2001, while ranking it number 95 on its list of the best albums of the 2000s decade.
, Keys was accepted to Columbia University
. She dropped out after four weeks to pursue her music career. She signed a demo deal with Jermaine Dupri
and his So So Def
label. Keys co-wrote and recorded a song entitled "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. Keys began writing, producing and recording the album in 1998. She completed it that same year, but it was rejected by Columbia Records
. Keys explained that the producers she worked with would tell her to "just get in the booth and sing", which frustrated her. 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.
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." Keys learned how to produce by asking questions to the producers and engineers; she wrote, arranged and produced a majority of the album. 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. One of the final songs Keys recorded was "Fallin'
". A total of 32 songs were recorded for the album. 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.
, soul
and jazz
into the music of Songs in A Minor. With influences of classical piano, classic soul and East Coast hip hop
, 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". 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". 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". John Mulvey of Yahoo! Music
called the album "a gorgeous and ambitious melding of classic soul structures and values to hyper-modern production technique".
The album's opening track, "Piano & I", begins with a rendition of Ludwig van Beethoven
's Moonlight Sonata
, combined with a hip hop
beat. The introduction is followed by "Girlfriend
", which was produced by Jermaine Dupri
. Commended for its "crisp production", the song samples Ol' Dirty Bastard
's "Brooklyn Zoo
". 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. The music critic for PopMatters
felt that the song was credible, but fell short from the original and Stephanie Mills
's 1980s cover. "Fallin'
", the gospel
-driven lead single and often considered Keys's signature song, contains a sample of James Brown
's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World
". The song earned Keys comparisons to Aretha Franklin
.
"A Woman's Worth
", the second single released from the album, is a "gospel-tinged" song that recommends to men to show respect to their female partner. "Jane Doe" is a funk
-driven song, with backing vocals provided by Kandi Burruss
. "The Life", which elicits Curtis Mayfield
's "Gimmie Your Love", describes Keys's "philosophy of life and struggle". The song was compared to the work of the English band Sade
. "Mr. Man" contains elements Latin American music
and was described as a "sexy and soulful duet", in which Jimmy Cozier
"adds his spice". The album ends with the hidden track
"Lovin' U", which Christian Ward of NME compared to works of the musical group The Supremes
.
" was released to urban radio
in early 2001 to "introduce" Keys. In order to promote her, music executive Clive Davis
booked Keys to The Tonight Show
. Afterward, he sent the music video of the first single, "Fallin'
", to MTV; "half the women had tears down their face" when the video finished playing. "Fallin'" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100
and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
charts, where the song remained atop the charts for six and four weeks, respectively. It became the most played song in the United States at the time and was certified gold
by the Recording Industry Association of America
. The album's second single, "A Woman's Worth
", peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The third single, "How Come You Don't Call Me
" peaked at number 59 on the same chart, while the fourth single, "Girlfriend", peaked at number 82 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Davis wrote a letter to Oprah Winfrey
, asking her to allow Keys, along with Jill Scott
and India.Arie
, to perform on her show. The group of singers performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show
, where Keys "wowed" the audience. This led to the album's pre-order
s to double that night. From August to October 2001, Keys toured alongside recording artist Maxwell
in promotion of the album. Soon after, she embarked on her Songs in A Minor Tour
.
On June 28, 2011, Songs in A Minor was re-released as deluxe and collector's editions in commemoration of its 10th anniversary. Both editions will feature previously unreleased material and a documentary chronicling the making of the original album. On June 26, 2011, at the BET Awards
Keys performed a medley of songs which included "Typewriter", "A Woman's Worth" with Bruno Mars
and "Maybach Music
" with Rick Ross
and "Fallin'". On June 28, 2011, Keys performed "Fallin'", "Butterflyz" and "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down
" on Good Morning America
. BET aired "The Story So Far... Alicia Keys" special highlighting Alicia's 10 year career through her BET moments on June 28, 2011. On June 30, Keys performed Songs in A Minor in its entirety and telling stories of its recording in a show entitled "Piano & I: A One Night Only Event With Alicia Keys" at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average
score of 78 based on 10 reviews. Keys' sound was compared to other soul musicians, including Aretha Franklin
, Stevie Wonder
, Billie Holiday
, Laura Nyro
, Jill Scott
, Prince
and Lauryn Hill
. Giving it a 9/10 rating, Sam Faulkner of NME described the balance between contemporary music
and retrospective
as "an act of pure genius". Steve Jones of USA Today gave the album three out of four stars and praised Keys' musicianship, stating "Keys already has a musical, artistic and thematic maturity that many more experienced artists never achieve". The Washington Posts Richard Harrington wrote favorably of Keys' musical influences on the album and expressed that she has "vocal maturity and writing instincts beyond her years". PopMatters critic Mark Anthony Neal
praised Keys' performance on the album and called it "a distinct and oft-times brilliant debut from an artist who clearly has a fine sense of her creative talents". In his consumer guide column for The Village Voice
, Robert Christgau gave Songs in A Minor an A- rating, indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction. Anyone open to its aesthetic will enjoy more than half its tracks".
The New Zealand Herald
s Russell Baillie stated that Keys "might indicate abundant talent aligned to neatly reverential vintage soul style", but expressed that the songs "don't add up to anything particularly memorable". Keys' vocal performance was lauded; Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine declared that Keys' displayed a "powerful range, proving she can belt along with the best of them". Critics also viewed her lyrics as sub-par to her singing and musical ability. Entertainment Weeklys Beth Johnson called the second half of the album slacked with "sad sack teen themes", but called it a promising album. Giving it 3 out of 5 stars, Rolling Stones Barry Walters perceived her singing as more mature than her songwriting, but commended Keys for her "commanding presence" on the album. Los Angeles Times writer Robert Hilburn
gave the album three out of four stars and wrote that it "makes a convincing case that's she's going far—in both a commercial and creative sense". In a retrospective review, Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine perceived the album's music as "rich enough to compensate for some thinness in the writing... which is a testament to Keys' skills as a musician", while calling it "a startling assured, successful debut that deserved its immediate acclaim and is already aging nicely".
chart, selling 236,000 copies in its first week. Through word of mouth
and promotion, the album sold 450,000 copies in its second week and remained atop the chart for three non-consecutive weeks. The album became one of the bestselling albums of 2001. It sold over 6.2 million copies in the United States, where it was certified six times platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of America
. Songs in A Minor sold over 12 million copies worldwide.
Billboard magazine ranked the album thirty-second in the decade-end recap of the most successful albums of the 2000s, while placing it twelfth in the R&B field. The RIAA lists it as one of the Best Selling Albums of All Time.
, 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 1999 Grammy Awards. The album also won a NAACP Image Award
for "Outstanding Album
". Keys was also named Best New Artist at the 2002 World Music Awards
. "Fallin'" was ranked at number 37 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years in 2003 and was ranked the 413th greatest song of all time by Blender
magazine. The album was ranked 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 inducted to Q
magazine's 100 Greatest Albums Ever. In 2009, Rolling Stone named it the 95th greatest album of the past decade, while "Fallin'" ranked at number 62 on the magazine's "100 Best Songs of the Decade" list.
in Seattle, Washington.
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
. It was released in the United States on June 5, 2001 by J Records
J Records
J Records was an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment, and was distributed through the RCA Music Group.-Company history:...
. After graduating from high school, Keys signed with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
to begin her music career. She recorded an album in 1998 under the label, which they rejected. Her contract subsequently ended with Columbia after a dispute with the label, and Keys later signed with Clive Davis
Clive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
. An accomplished, classically
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
-trained pianist, Keys wrote, arranged and produced majority of tracks in the album. Contrary to its title, the album contains only one song, "Jane Doe", in the key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
of A minor
A minor
A minor is a minor scale based on A, consisting of the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The harmonic minor scale raises the G to G...
.
Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who noted her ability to catch an old-school jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
sound and mix it with R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
melodies. Keys was compared by critics to such artists as Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
and Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
. The album earned Keys several awards and accolades, including five Grammy Awards at the 44th Grammy Awards. Songs in A Minor debuted at number one on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, selling over 236,000 copies in its first week. It has sold over 6.2 million copies in the United States and twelve million copies worldwide. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine named Songs in A Minor the second best album of 2001, while ranking it number 95 on its list of the best albums of the 2000s decade.
Background and recording
After graduating from the Professional Performing Arts SchoolProfessional Performing Arts School
The Professional Performing Arts School or PPAS is a New York City public school.-History:The Professional Performing Arts School was created in 1990 to meet the needs of two groups of students: those who wanted to pursue professional work in the arts as they earned a junior/senior high school...
, Keys was accepted to Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. She dropped out after four weeks to pursue her music career. She signed a demo deal with Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
and his So So Def
So So Def Recordings
So So Def Recordings is a record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, and owned by producer Jermaine Dupri, specializing in Southern hip hop, R&B and bass music.-Beginnings:...
label. Keys co-wrote and recorded a song entitled "Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing)", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1997 film, Men in Black
Men in Black (film)
Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, originally published by Marvel Comics. The film featured the creature effects...
. She also contributed to the So So Def Christmas recordings. Keys began writing, producing and recording the album in 1998. She completed it that same year, but it was rejected by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. Keys explained that the producers she worked with would tell her to "just get in the booth and sing", which frustrated her. Her record contract with Columbia ended after a dispute with the label. Keys then performed for Clive Davis
Clive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
, who sensed a "special, unique" artist; he bought Keys contract from Columbia and signed her to Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
, which later disbanded.
Following Davis to his newly formed J Records
J Records
J Records was an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment, and was distributed through the RCA Music Group.-Company history:...
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." Keys learned how to produce by asking questions to the producers and engineers; she wrote, arranged and produced a majority of the album. She recorded the songs "Rock wit U" and "Rear View Mirror", which were featured on the soundtracks to the films Shaft
Shaft (2000 film)
Shaft is a 2000 American action-crime film directed by John Singleton, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeffrey Wright, Christian Bale, Pat Hingle, Toni Collette, Busta Rhymes, Vanessa L. Williams, and Mekhi Phifer. This film is not a remake of the 1971 film of the same name, but rather a sequel,...
(2000) and Dr. Dolittle 2
Dr. Dolittle 2
Dr. Dolittle 2 is a 2001 American comedy film, and the theatrical sequel to the 1998 film Dr. Dolittle. The continuing tale of the doctor who can talk to the animals—this time, it's Dolittle versus Darwin when the animals launch a labor strike to protect their forest from unscrupulous human...
(2001), respectively. One of the final songs Keys recorded was "Fallin'
Fallin'
"Fallin" is a song recorded, written, and produced by American recording artist Alicia Keys for her debut album, Songs in A Minor. Released to radio and music video outlets in 2001, it is generally considered her signature song. "Fallin'" became Keys' first number-one single in the United States...
". A total of 32 songs were recorded for the album. 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.
Music
Keys incorporates classical piano with R&BContemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
, soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
into the music of Songs in A Minor. With influences of classical piano, classic soul and East Coast hip hop
East Coast hip hop
East Coast hip hop is a regional subgenre of hip hop music that originated in New York City, USA during the 1970s. Hip hop is recognized to have originated and evolved first in the East Coast...
, 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". Jane Stevenson of Jam!
Jam!
Jam! is a Canadian website, which covers entertainment news. It is part of the CANOE online portal, owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division....
described the music as "old-school urban sounds and attitude set against a backdrop of classical piano and sweet, warm vocals". USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
s Steve Jones wrote that Keys "taps into the blues, soul, jazz and even classical music to propel haunting melodies and hard-driving funk". John Mulvey of Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
called the album "a gorgeous and ambitious melding of classic soul structures and values to hyper-modern production technique".
The album's opening track, "Piano & I", begins with a rendition of Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Moonlight Sonata
Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)
The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor "Quasi una fantasia", Op. 27, No. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata , was completed in 1801...
, combined with a hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
beat. The introduction is followed by "Girlfriend
Girlfriend (Alicia Keys song)
"Girlfriend" is a song by American singer–songwriter Alicia Keys. It was written by Keys, Jermaine Dupri, and Joshua Thompson and produced by Dupri for her debut album, Songs in A Minor ....
", which was produced by Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri
Jermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
. Commended for its "crisp production", the song samples Ol' Dirty Bastard
Ol' Dirty Bastard
Russell Tyrone Jones was an American rapper and occasional producer, who went by the stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard or simply ODB...
's "Brooklyn Zoo
Brooklyn Zoo
"Brooklyn Zoo" is the debut single of the American Hip-hop artist, Ol' Dirty Bastard from the album, Return to the 36 Chambers. After the Wu-Tang Clan started releasing solo efforts, Ol' Dirty Bastard was second behind Method Man to release a solo album with Return to the 36 Chambers...
". Keys' cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
's 1982 ballad "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
"How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" is a song by Prince. It is a ballad of romantic longing with some gospel elements. On his original recording of the song, which was released as the non-album B-side to his 1982 single "1999", Prince performs most of the song in his falsetto range, with his own...
" (retitled "How Come You Don't Call Me") was inspired by a long-term relationship with a partner. The music critic for PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
felt that the song was credible, but fell short from the original and Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Dorthea Mills is an American R&B and soul singer, and a former Broadway star.-Career:Mills began her career appearing in her first play at the age of nine. Two years later, Mills won Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater a record six times...
's 1980s cover. "Fallin'
Fallin'
"Fallin" is a song recorded, written, and produced by American recording artist Alicia Keys for her debut album, Songs in A Minor. Released to radio and music video outlets in 2001, it is generally considered her signature song. "Fallin'" became Keys' first number-one single in the United States...
", the gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
-driven lead single and often considered Keys's signature song, contains a sample of James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World
It's a Man's Man's Man's World
"It's a Man's Man's Man's World" is a song by James Brown and Betty Jean Newsome. Brown recorded it on February 16, 1966 in a New York studio and released it as a single later that year. It reached #1 on the Billboard Top R&B Singles charts and #8 in the Billboard Hot 100...
". The song earned Keys comparisons to Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
.
"A Woman's Worth
A Woman's Worth
"A Woman's Worth" is a song by American singer–songwriter Alicia Keys. A piano-driven soul ballad with elements of contemporary R&B and neo soul, it was written by herself and musician Erika Rose and produced by Keys for her debut album, Songs in A Minor .The track was released as the album's...
", the second single released from the album, is a "gospel-tinged" song that recommends to men to show respect to their female partner. "Jane Doe" is a funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
-driven song, with backing vocals provided by Kandi Burruss
Kandi Burruss
Kandi Burruss , better known by her stage names Kandi or Kandi Girl, is an American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. She is also a former member of the group Xscape from Atlanta.-Early life:...
. "The Life", which elicits Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
's "Gimmie Your Love", describes Keys's "philosophy of life and struggle". The song was compared to the work of the English band Sade
Sade (band)
Sade is a British smooth jazz band that formed in 1983, named for Nigerian lead singer Sade Adu. Their music features elements of R&B, soul, jazz, and soft rock....
. "Mr. Man" contains elements Latin American music
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
and was described as a "sexy and soulful duet", in which Jimmy Cozier
Jimmy Cozier
-Biography:Cozier was encouraged to sing as a child by his family, who would demand that he perform in group settings. He started out as a singer/songwriter for artists such as Mýa, Sinéad O'Connor, and Janet Jackson...
"adds his spice". The album ends with the hidden track
Hidden track
In the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
"Lovin' U", which Christian Ward of NME compared to works of the musical group The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
.
Release and promotion
In advance of Songs in A Minor, "GirlfriendGirlfriend (Alicia Keys song)
"Girlfriend" is a song by American singer–songwriter Alicia Keys. It was written by Keys, Jermaine Dupri, and Joshua Thompson and produced by Dupri for her debut album, Songs in A Minor ....
" was released to urban radio
Urban contemporary
Urban contemporary is a music radio format. The term was coined by the late New York DJ Frankie Crocker in the mid 1970s. Urban contemporary radio stations feature a playlist made up entirely of hip hop/rap, contemporary R&B, pop, electronica such as dubstep and drum and bass and Caribbean music...
in early 2001 to "introduce" Keys. In order to promote her, music executive Clive Davis
Clive Davis
Clive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
booked Keys to The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
. Afterward, he sent the music video of the first single, "Fallin'
Fallin'
"Fallin" is a song recorded, written, and produced by American recording artist Alicia Keys for her debut album, Songs in A Minor. Released to radio and music video outlets in 2001, it is generally considered her signature song. "Fallin'" became Keys' first number-one single in the United States...
", to MTV; "half the women had tears down their face" when the video finished playing. "Fallin'" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
charts, where the song remained atop the charts for six and four weeks, respectively. It became the most played song in the United States at the time and was certified gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. The album's second single, "A Woman's Worth
A Woman's Worth
"A Woman's Worth" is a song by American singer–songwriter Alicia Keys. A piano-driven soul ballad with elements of contemporary R&B and neo soul, it was written by herself and musician Erika Rose and produced by Keys for her debut album, Songs in A Minor .The track was released as the album's...
", peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The third single, "How Come You Don't Call Me
How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?
"How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" is a song by Prince. It is a ballad of romantic longing with some gospel elements. On his original recording of the song, which was released as the non-album B-side to his 1982 single "1999", Prince performs most of the song in his falsetto range, with his own...
" peaked at number 59 on the same chart, while the fourth single, "Girlfriend", peaked at number 82 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
Davis wrote a letter to Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
, asking her to allow Keys, along with Jill Scott
Jill Scott
Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...
and India.Arie
India.Arie
India.Arie is a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and record producer . She has sold over 3.3 million records in the U.S. and 10 million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards from her 21 nominations, including Best R&B Album.-Background:Simpson was born in Denver, Colorado...
, to perform on her show. The group of singers performed on The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, where Keys "wowed" the audience. This led to the album's pre-order
Pre-order
A pre-order is an order placed for an item which has not yet been released. The idea for pre-orders came when people found it hard to get popular items in stores due to their popularity. Companies were then given the idea to allow people to reserve their own personal copy, before the release, ...
s to double that night. From August to October 2001, Keys toured alongside recording artist Maxwell
Maxwell (musician)
Maxwell , is an American R&B, funk and neo soul musician. He played an important role in the development of the soul sub-genre, neo-soul.-Early life:...
in promotion of the album. Soon after, she embarked on her Songs in A Minor Tour
Songs in A Minor Tour
The critically acclaimed Songs In A Minor Tour was a concert tour set out in support of Songs In A Minor, Alicia Keys multi-platinum debut album...
.
On June 28, 2011, Songs in A Minor was re-released as deluxe and collector's editions in commemoration of its 10th anniversary. Both editions will feature previously unreleased material and a documentary chronicling the making of the original album. On June 26, 2011, at the BET Awards
BET Awards
The BET Awards were established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. The awards are presented annually and broadcast live on BET...
Keys performed a medley of songs which included "Typewriter", "A Woman's Worth" with Bruno Mars
Bruno Mars
Peter Gene Hernandez , better known by his stage name Bruno Mars, is an Filipino-American singer-songwriter and record producer. Raised in Honolulu, Hawaii by a family of musicians, Mars began making music at a young age...
and "Maybach Music
Maybach Music 2
"Maybach Music 2" is a hip-hop song recorded by American rapper Rick Ross and released as the third single from his third studio album, Deeper Than Rap. The song features Kanye West, T-Pain, and Lil Wayne....
" with Rick Ross
Rick Ross
Rick, Ricky or Richard Ross may also refer to:* Rick Ross , American rapper* Richard J. Ross, a Massachusetts State Senator* Richard Ross , an American photographer...
and "Fallin'". On June 28, 2011, Keys performed "Fallin'", "Butterflyz" and "Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down
Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down
"Empire State of Mind Broken Down" is a song performed by American recording artist Alicia Keys. It is an answer song to the Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z, on which Keys is featured...
" on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
. BET aired "The Story So Far... Alicia Keys" special highlighting Alicia's 10 year career through her BET moments on June 28, 2011. On June 30, Keys performed Songs in A Minor in its entirety and telling stories of its recording in a show entitled "Piano & I: A One Night Only Event With Alicia Keys" at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.
Critical response
Upon its release, Songs in A Minor received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who praised Keys for her vintage sound and musical maturity. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 78 based on 10 reviews. Keys' sound was compared to other soul musicians, including Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
, Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...
, Jill Scott
Jill Scott
Jill Scott is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, poet, and actress. In 2007, Scott made her cinematic debut in the films Hounddog and in Tyler Perry's feature film, Why Did I Get Married? That year, her third studio album, The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3, was released on...
, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
and Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
. Giving it a 9/10 rating, Sam Faulkner of NME described the balance between contemporary music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
and retrospective
Retrospective
Retrospective generally means to take a look back at events that already have taken place. For example, the term is used in medicine, describing a look back at a patient's medical history or lifestyle.-Music:...
as "an act of pure genius". Steve Jones of USA Today gave the album three out of four stars and praised Keys' musicianship, stating "Keys already has a musical, artistic and thematic maturity that many more experienced artists never achieve". The Washington Posts Richard Harrington wrote favorably of Keys' musical influences on the album and expressed that she has "vocal maturity and writing instincts beyond her years". PopMatters critic Mark Anthony Neal
Mark Anthony Neal
Mark Anthony Neal is Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University, where he won the 2010 Robert B. Cox Award for Teaching...
praised Keys' performance on the album and called it "a distinct and oft-times brilliant debut from an artist who clearly has a fine sense of her creative talents". In his consumer guide column for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, Robert Christgau gave Songs in A Minor an A- rating, indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction. Anyone open to its aesthetic will enjoy more than half its tracks".
The New Zealand Herald
The New Zealand Herald
- External links :* * *...
s Russell Baillie stated that Keys "might indicate abundant talent aligned to neatly reverential vintage soul style", but expressed that the songs "don't add up to anything particularly memorable". Keys' vocal performance was lauded; Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine declared that Keys' displayed a "powerful range, proving she can belt along with the best of them". Critics also viewed her lyrics as sub-par to her singing and musical ability. Entertainment Weeklys Beth Johnson called the second half of the album slacked with "sad sack teen themes", but called it a promising album. Giving it 3 out of 5 stars, Rolling Stones Barry Walters perceived her singing as more mature than her songwriting, but commended Keys for her "commanding presence" on the album. Los Angeles Times writer Robert Hilburn
Robert Hilburn
Robert Hilburn is a pop music critic and author. As critic and music editor of the Los Angeles Times from 1970 to 2005, his reviews, essays and profiles have appeared in hundreds of publications around the world...
gave the album three out of four stars and wrote that it "makes a convincing case that's she's going far—in both a commercial and creative sense". In a retrospective review, Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine perceived the album's music as "rich enough to compensate for some thinness in the writing... which is a testament to Keys' skills as a musician", while calling it "a startling assured, successful debut that deserved its immediate acclaim and is already aging nicely".
Commercial performance
Songs in A Minor debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, selling 236,000 copies in its first week. Through word of mouth
Word of mouth
Word of mouth, or viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and...
and promotion, the album sold 450,000 copies in its second week and remained atop the chart for three non-consecutive weeks. The album became one of the bestselling albums of 2001. It sold over 6.2 million copies in the United States, where it was certified six times platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. Songs in A Minor sold over 12 million copies worldwide.
Billboard magazine ranked the album thirty-second in the decade-end recap of the most successful albums of the 2000s, while placing it twelfth in the R&B field. The RIAA lists it as one of the Best Selling Albums of All Time.
Accolades
Songs in A Minor led Keys to win five awards at the 2002 Grammy Awards: Song of the YearGrammy Award for Song of the Year
The Song of the Year is one of the four most prestigious awards in the Grammy Awards ceremony, if not in all of the American music industry. It has been awarded since 1959 and unlike the Record of the Year award, which goes to the performer and production team of a single song, Song of the Year...
, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to female recording artists for quality R&B songs...
, and Best R&B Song
Grammy Award for Best R&B Song
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song has been awarded since 1959. From 1969 to 2000 it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song, from 1962 to 1968 it was known as Best Rhythm & Blues Recording, and from 1959-1961 as Best Rhythm & Blues Performance...
for "Fallin'", Best New Artist
Grammy Award for Best New Artist
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967...
, and Best R&B Album
Grammy Award for Best R&B Album
The Grammy Award for Best R&B Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works on albums in the R&B music genre...
; "Fallin'" was also nominated for Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
. Keys became the second female solo artist to win five Grammy Awards in a single night, following Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
at the 1999 Grammy Awards. The album also won a NAACP Image Award
NAACP Image Award
An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
for "Outstanding Album
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album
The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Album:...
". Keys was also named Best New Artist at the 2002 World Music Awards
World Music Awards
The World Music Awards is an international awards show founded in 1989 that annually honors recording artists based on worldwide sales figures provided by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . John Martinotti is an executive producer and co-founder of the show...
. "Fallin'" was ranked at number 37 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the Past 25 Years in 2003 and was ranked the 413th greatest song of all time by Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
magazine. The album was ranked number two on the Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's Top 10 of 2001, number 18 on The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
s 2001 Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
list, number 27 on Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine's Best 40 Albums of 2001 and was inducted to Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine's 100 Greatest Albums Ever. In 2009, Rolling Stone named it the 95th greatest album of the past decade, while "Fallin'" ranked at number 62 on the magazine's "100 Best Songs of the Decade" list.
Track listing
Remixed & Unplugged in A Minor
An album of remixes and live songs, Remixed & Unplugged in A Minor (issued in some countries as Songs in A Minor: Remixed & Unplugged), was released on October 22, 2002 by J Records. The album's live portion was edited from a performance recorded on August 10, 2002 at KeyArenaKeyArena
KeyArena at Seattle Center , is a multipurpose arena, in Seattle, Washington. It is located north of downtown in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, the Century 21 Exposition...
in Seattle, Washington.
10th Anniversary Edition
10th Anniversary Edition is a 10th anniversary special edition reissue of the Alicia Keys album Songs in A Minor. Bonus songs include new songs from the era, alternate versions, live versions and more, hand-picked by Alicia, DVD includes a brand-new documentary on the making of album, and music videos. For the first time, a vinyl version of the original album will also be made available.Deluxe Edition (2CD)
Collector's Edition (2CD/1DVD)
Personnel
- A & C Productions – Strings
- Sanford Allen – String Contractor
- Alli – Art Direction, Creative Director
- Carlos Alomar – Guitar
- Arden Altino – Arranger, Keyboards, Producer
- David Bakamjian – String Section
- Ross Baldisserotto – Editing
- Beethoven – Composer
- Miri BeniriMiri Ben-AriMiri Ben-Ari is an Israeli violinist, who currently resides in the United States.Ben-Ari grew up playing classical music; she started training at age 5 and at age 12, she was presented with a violin by Isaac Stern. During her mandatory Israeli military service, she was chosen to play for the...
– Arranger, Producer, Keyboards, Strings, Violin - Tony Black – Engineer, Mixing
- Larissa Blitz – String Section
- Charles Bouis – Engineer
- Gretchen Brennison – Project Manager
- Harry Brooks – Composer
- Kerry Brothers – Composer, Digital Programming, Drum Programming, Engineer, Executive Producer, Keyboards, Producer, Production Concept, Remix Producer
- Gerry BrownGerry BrownGerry “The Gov.” Brown is a recording engineer and producer based in Los Angeles credited on over 47 Platinum and Gold Records. He has received over 15 Grammy bids, including five nominations for Alicia Keys’ “Songs In A Minor,” a Song of the Year Award for Erykah Badu’s “Love of My Life,” two...
– Engineer, Mixing - Kandi BurrussKandi BurrussKandi Burruss , better known by her stage names Kandi or Kandi Girl, is an American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. She is also a former member of the group Xscape from Atlanta.-Early life:...
– Composer, Arranger, Producer, Vocals (Background) - Ralph Cacciuri – Engineer
- Warryn Campbell – Composer
- Robert Chausow – String Section
- Ray Chew – Composer, Orchestration, String Arrangements
- Brian Cox – Keyboards
- Jimmy CozierJimmy Cozier-Biography:Cozier was encouraged to sing as a child by his family, who would demand that he perform in group settings. He started out as a singer/songwriter for artists such as Mýa, Sinéad O'Connor, and Janet Jackson...
– Arranger, Composer, Duet, Producer - Clive DavisClive DavisClive Davis is an American record producer and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer. From 1967 to 1973 he was the President of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975...
– Executive Producer - Alberto de Almar – Guitar
- John Densmore – Composer
- Jermaine DupriJermaine DupriJermaine Dupri Mauldin , known as Jermaine Dupri or JD, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper.- Early life and career :...
– Composer, Producer - Tony Duran – Photography
- Peter Edge – Executive Producer
- Russ ElevadoRussell ElevadoRussell Elevado , is a recording engineer and record producer based in New York City. Elevado's achievement for recording and mixing contemporary R&B recording artist D'Angelo's critically acclaimedVoodoo album, gained him a Grammy award in 2000...
– Engineer, Mixing - Marisol Espada – String Section
- Lena M. Fankhauser – String Section
- Barry Finclair – String Section
- Gerald Flowers – Guitar
- Reggie Flowers – Fills
- Vic Flowers – Bass
- Brian Frye – Engineer
- Natali Galazka – Producer
- Chris Galland – Mixing Assistant
- Richie Goods – Bass, Bass (Upright)
- Erwin Gorostiza – Creative Director
- Paul L. Green – Vocals (Background)
- Andricka Hall – Vocals (Background)
- Jil Hardin – Producer
- Derrick Harris – Composer
- Isaac HayesIsaac HayesIsaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
– Fender Rhodes, Flute Arrangement, String Arrangements - Isaac Hayes Orchestra – Flute Arrangement, String Arrangements
- Norman Hedman – Percussion
- Patrick Hoelck – Director
- Rufus Jackson – Bass
- Eric Johnson – Photography
- Syl Johnson – Composer
- Gloria Jones – Composer
- Jimmy Jones – Composer
- Quincy JonesQuincy JonesQuincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
– Quotation Author - Russell Jones – Composer
- Julian C. Barber – String Section
- Acar Key – Engineer, Piano Engineer
- Alicia Keys – Arranger, Composer, Digital Programming, Executive Producer, Instrumentation, Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Remix Producer, String Arrangements, Synthesizer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
- Kez Khou – Archivist
- Robby Krieger – Composer
- Dave Kutch – Mastering
- Gwendolyn Laster – String Section
- Jesse Levine – String Section
- Alan Light – Liner Notes
- Lil X – Director
- Kristin Lum – Art Direction, Design
- Erik Madrid – Mixing Assistant
- Bernard "Doss" Malik – Composer, Producer
- Ray Manzarek – Composer
- Manny MarroquinManny MarroquinManny Marroquin, born 21 September 1971 in Guatemala, is a Grammy winning mixing engineer. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was nine due to the Guatemalan Civil War....
– Mixing - Tony MaseratiTony MaseratiTony Maserati is an American record producer and studio audio engineer who has worked with many mainstream artists including Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Jason Mraz, James Brown, Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, R...
– Mixing - Brian McKnightBrian McKnightBrian McKnight is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and R&B/Pop musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays nine instruments: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet....
– Composer, Instrumentation, Producer - Clarence McMurray – Composer
- Lori Miller – String Section
- Ann Mincieli – Assistant, Assistant Engineer, Coordination, Engineer, Mixing
- Cindy Mizelle – Vocals (Background)
- Jim Morrison – Composer
- James Mtume – Composer
- Anthony Nance – Drum Programming
- Fiz Oliver – Producer
- John Peters – Organ
- Marion Pinheiro – String Section
- Herb Powers, Jr. – Mastering
- Prince – Composer
- Andy Razaf – Composer
- Laurence H. Ridley – String Section
- Chris RobinsonChris Robinson (director)Chris Robinson is an American film director working mostly with music videos and commercials. He has directed commercials for brands such as iPod, Coca Cola and Verizon and music videos for songs like "Fallin'" and "You Don't Know My Name" by Alicia Keys, "Roc Boys" by Jay-Z, the grammy nominated...
– Editing, Video Director - Jeff Robinson – Executive Producer
- Douglas Romoff – String Section
- Erika Rose – Composer, Vocals (Background)
- Rick St. Hillaire – Engineer
- Tammy Saunders – Vocals (Background)
- Pam Sawyer – Composer
- Albert V. Schoonmaker – String Section
- Earle Sebastian – Director, Producer
- Sarah Seiver – String Section
- Tim Shider – Bass
- Taneisha Smith – Composer
- Mary Ann Souza – Assistant
- Dale Stuckenbruck – String Section
- Phil TanPhil TanPhil Tan is an Atlanta, GA-based music/audio engineer.He is a 3-time Grammy Award recipient, as mixing engineer for Mariah Carey's "The Emancipation of Mimi" , Ludacris' "Release Therapy" and Rihanna's "Only Girl " .Among the artists on Tan's list of credits: Jill Scott, Jennifer...
– Mixing - Joshua Thompson – Composer
- Thomas Waller – Composer
- Glenn Watts – Composer
- Dionne Webb – Hair Stylist
- Arty White – Guitar
- D'Wayne WigginsD'wayne WigginsD'wayne Wiggins is an American musician, blues guitarist, producer, composer and community activist, best known as the founding member of the 1990s soul/R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!.- Early life :...
– Producer - Carolyn Williams – Project Manager
- Patti Wilson – Stylist
- Kela Wong – Make-Up
- Chris Wood – Engineer
Chart positions
| Chart (2001/2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
3 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 4 |
| Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... (Flanders) |
8 |
| Belgian Albums Chart Ultratop 40 Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization... (Wallonia) |
10 |
| Canadian Albums Chart Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS... |
2 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
1 |
| Danish Albums Chart | 4 |
| European Top 100 Albums European Top 100 Albums The European Top 100 Albums chart is the European adaptation of the Billboard 200 albums chart. It was created in March 1984.The European Top 100 Albums, commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums shows the sales of an act in 19 European countries based on IFPI data.The European Top 100... |
5 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 8 |
| French Albums Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
12 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
2 |
| Greek International Albums Chart IFPI Greece International Federation of the Phonographic Industry Greece or IFPI Greece is the Greek branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and is the official charts provider and recording sales certification body for Greece. Currently two charts are compiled, one for sales of... |
5 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart Mahasz Mahasz is the Hungarian music industry association, founded in 1992. Mahasz hands out the Hungarian Music Awards and maintains the music charts for Hungary.... |
18 |
| Italian Albums Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
4 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
5 |
| Japanese Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
44 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
12 |
| Polish Albums Chart Polish Music Charts The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies... |
9 |
| Swedish Albums Chart Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association .... |
10 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
3 |
| U.K Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
6 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
| U.S. Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
1 |
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Albums Chart | 69 |
| French Albums Chart | 124 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2001) | Position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums Chart | 35 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) | 98 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 18 |
| French Albums Chart | 98 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 47 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 32 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 19 |
| U.K Albums Chart | 38 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 13 |
| U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 3 |
| Worldwide | 7 |
| Chart (2002) | Position |
| Australian Albums Chart | 14 |
| Australian Urban Albums | 3 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 44 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders) | 38 |
| Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia) | 21 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 21 |
| French Albums Chart | 45 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 28 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 85 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 28 |
| U.K Albums Chart | 31 |
| U.S Billboard Hot 200 | 23 |
| U.S R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 12 |
| Chart (2003) | Position |
| Australian Urban Albums | 18 |
| U.K Albums Chart | 153 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart (2000–09) | Position |
|---|---|
| Dutch Albums Chart | 72 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 32 |
| U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop Albums | 12 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
2× platinum |
| Austria | Gold |
| Belgium | Gold |
| Canada Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada... |
5× platinum |
| Denmark | Platinum |
| Europe | 3× platinum |
| France Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
Platinum |
| Germany Bundesverband Musikindustrie The Bundesverband Musikindustrie or simply BVMI represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 350 labels and music industry related enterprises.... |
Platinum |
| Italy Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
Platinum |
| Netherlands NVPI The NVPI is the Dutch tradeassociation of the entertainment industry... |
2× platinum |
| New Zealand Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
Platinum |
| Norway | Gold |
| Poland | Gold |
| Sweden | Platinum |
| Switzerland | 2× platinum |
| United Kingdom British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
3× platinum |
| United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
6× platinum |
Chart procession and succession
See also
- List of Top 25 albums for 2002 in Australia
- New Zealand Top 50 Albums of 2001New Zealand Top 50 Albums of 2001-Chart:-External links:*...
- New Zealand Top 50 Albums of 2002New Zealand Top 50 Albums of 2002-Chart:-External links:*...
- United Kingdom Top 40 Albums of 2002
- List of number-one albums of 2001 (U.S.)
Release history
| Country | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| United States | June 5, 2001 | J Records J Records J Records was an American record label, owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment, and was distributed through the RCA Music Group.-Company history:... |
| Canada | June 26, 2001 | Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... |
| United Kingdom | July 23, 2001 | J Records |
| Germany | September 3, 2001 | |
| Australia | ||
| Japan | February 27, 2002 | BMG |
| France | October 29, 2002 | J Records |
| 10th Anniversary Edition | ||
| Worldwide | June 28, 2011 | J Records |
External links
- Songs in A Minor at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...