"Wait Til You See My Smile" is a song performed by American recording artist Alicia Keys

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 as the sixth single (fourth in the UK) from her fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom

The Element of Freedom

Keys began working on the album in May 2009. During this time, Keys and her audio engineer bought several vintage keyboards, describing the Moog as her "special best friend". Recording took place in The Oven Studios in Long Island, New York. Keys expressed that she "didn't know what to do" when she...

(2009). The soul-pop ballad was released on December 13, 2010. The Alicia Keys & her song "Wait Till You See My Smile" featured on new Samsung

Samsung

The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...

 DualView Commercial. The song was featured on the 13th episode of the sixth season of Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy

Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...

.

Background

Following the birth of Key's first child on October 16, 2010, Keys revealed that "Wait 'Til You See My Smile" would be released as the next single in the UK on November 28, 2010. However this was since pushed back to December 13, 2010. The single features "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" (Remix featuring Drake

Drake (entertainer)

Aubrey Drake Graham , who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation....

) as its b-side.

Critical reception

"Wait Til You See My Smile" received a mostly positive reception from music critics. In her review of The Element of Freedom in The Scotsman

The Scotsman

The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....

, Fiona Shepherd stated that "The vintage keyboards also come out for Wait Til You See My Smile, which sounds like it's about to break into Supertramp's Dreamer or build up to some U2/Coldplay-style stadium-friendly crescendo of euphoria. The crescendo never comes, but it is still a robust example of Keys' musical diversity – she's not one for staying in the soul/R&B box. Slant Magazine's

Slant Magazine

Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...

Matthew Cole expressed that "A similar aesthetic [to "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart"] extends to follow-up track, "Wait Til You See My Smile," where Keys jumps ably between a sultry lower register and an artfully strained high while synths and strings pile up to "Purple Rain" proportions." Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

simply reviewed the song as being "pure honeyed uplift".

Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau

Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...

 claimed that Keys "goes for melismatic pain whenever she sees an opening. But this is formal ploy merely, a diva-by-default's privilege. Her true self comes out in the half-heartedly relentless "Wait Til You See My Smile," a stab at the chin-up franchise once claimed by a young Mariah Carey..."

Music video

To promote "Wait Til You See My Smile", RCA worked in collaboration with Genero.tv on a competition where fans and Genero's community of 12,000 film makers (which has since grown to 35,000) were given the opportunity to create their own music video for the single. The competition ran over 6 weeks and after this period, 6 of the best videos were chosen by the genero.tv team, the genero fanbase and RCA. After this, Keys chose the final video. Once selected, the video was promoted across Alicia's official channels as the video supporting the UK release. The winning video was shot by Scott Orr from New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Keys' official site stated that "his originality and creativity that landed him the winning spot in the 'Wait Til you see My Smile’ video competition. His idea about humans as animals and embracing our freedom is incredible and heartfelt." Alicia Keys does not appear in the video.

Track listing

UK Digital download

1. "Wait Til You See My Smile" (UK Radio Edit) - 3:11
2. "Un-thinkable
   Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)
   "Un-Thinkable " is a song performed by American recording artist Alicia Keys and has backing vocals provided by Canadian singer, Drake. According to Keys' it is the next single from her 2009 album, The Element of Freedom. It was initially scheduled to be the fifth single but will now impact as the...
   
   " (Remix) (featuring Drake
   Drake (entertainer)
   Aubrey Drake Graham , who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation....
   
   ) - 4:42

Release History

Country	Date	Format	Label
United Kingdom	December 13, 2010	Digital Download	RCA Records RCA Records RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...