The long awaited 8th album from Alicia Keys has just been released! Stream it below!

Among the list of things Alicia Keys is exceptionally good at: making a mint tea latte. It’s nearly 11 a.m. on a Monday morning and she’s busy preparing two dairy-free cups in her spacious kitchen. The singer is in full mom-mode: Pancakes and eggs are also being whipped up and kisses are planted on the forehead of her youngest son, Genesis, 6, who sits at the counter next to his grandma, Keys’ mother, Terria. The kids—Keys’ son Egypt is occupying himself elsewhere in the house—don’t have school due to a teacher development day, so everyone is easing into the morning. After taking a sip of the latte Keys made, it’s clear it punctuates the mood: Everything here feels sweet and mellow.

Keys had hoped to sit outside on the terrace of the California mansion where she and husband Swizz Beatz (real name Kasseem Dean) are raising their children; the cliffside architectural masterpiece features uninhibited views of the Pacific ocean. But it’s late October and a bit too chilly and windy for that. So, with mugs of tea in hand—Keys’ is white with a big black “A” on it—we walk down the curved staircase to the 4th floor. Along the way we pass the spacious, yet cozy home cinema where Egypt just hosted a crew of friends for a sleepover in celebration of his 11th birthday. Blankets and pillows are still strewn about. Evidence of a good time. Keys shakes her head as she recalls her surprise at the number of pals on her son’s guest list. “I was like, really, seven?!” she says with a laugh. But the kids had a blast, so giving the pre-teen turnup the green light was worth it.

In the mountains north of San Diego, a modernist mansion made of white concrete and glass rises from the cliffside. The property, nicknamed “Razor House” after the nearby Razor Point Trail, is now home to two famous inhabitants: singer Alicia Keys and her music producer husband Kasseem Dean, better known as Swizz Beatz, alongside their children Genesis and Egypt.

The duo have since given the residence their own name, “Dreamland,” filling it with artworks by Black artists, a fleet of Ferraris, an infinity pool and a recording studio tucked away in a space Dean calls “the grown up floor.” Boasting views over the Pacific Ocean, the home is said to have inspired Tony Stark’s mansion in the “Iron Man” franchise, according to Architectural Digest, which is dedicating the cover story of its December issue to the property.

Speaking to the magazine, Dean revealed that he set his heart on the home long before purchasing it. The nearly 11,000-square-foot mansion, a photo of which served as his phone wallpaper for eight years before the couple moved in, was “incredibly important to me,” he is quoted as saying.

On Tuesday, R&B icon Alicia Keys announced her new album Keys (out Dec. 10) that, as she describes in the captions of a TikTok, “will have two types of songs.” The “Original” version has “laidback piano vibes,” while the “Unlocked” version promises “upbeat, drums, level up vibes.”

“I describe it like a Saturday and a Sunday,” the Grammy-winning musician tells EW. “One [side], you rock Saturday, and one you rock on Sunday and it’s a beautiful thing. It’s an incredible experience.”

With fans finally getting the full picture of the concept behind Keys, with the release of both the “Original” and “Unlocked” versions of her single “Best of Me” out now, Keys shared more insight on the inspiration and logistics behind the upcoming double album she calls a “homecoming.”

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When and how did the idea for Keys come about? 

ALICIA KEYS: The pandemic hit, and a lot of people would ask me when it first started, “Are you feeling so creative? Are you stuck in the house just creating everything?” And I actually wasn’t. I didn’t feel creative at all. I had lost my center and didn’t really know how to find peace. It started to get quite uncomfortable and frustrating because how do we all return to some form of normalcy, right? Obviously, we couldn’t tour and do all the normal things that we could do. So I did get right back in and I knew that I wanted to do this album called Keys. I’ve known it for years. It’s been ready for five years, this concept, and this album really focusing on the piano and being about the songs and the rawness. And as I started to create it, I realized that it was a homecoming for me because it brought me back to that center that I was looking for but couldn’t quite find for a minute there. It’s so grounded in songwriting and raw expression. I didn’t worry about production. I didn’t worry about anything. It was all about the piano and creating songs that made you feel. And as we were creating, it did actually flow pretty effortlessly.

And as we were flowing through it, myself and my engineer Ann Mincieli — she’s been with me for a long time and is a super badass magician — we started conversating about this concept about these two worlds. There’s so many sides to all of us, and that’s a lot of what I’m always thinking about, and exploring in my own life and music. So we started talking about putting together a whole other side of the Keys universe, and she suggested I connect with [rap producer] Mike Will. And when I connected with Mike Will, it was instant vibes. So I had this whole body of work that we were calling Keys, and I wanted to see what would happen if I sampled myself. Like if you found a vintage Nina Simone record and you wanted to sample it and give it another energy, what would it sound like? That’s literally the concept of Keys. So Keys is the whole body of work. And then inside of Keys, there’s the “Originals,” which is all that music that was all about the piano and that rawness. And then there’s “Unlocked,” which is myself and Mike Will sampling myself, and coming up with this whole other sound. 

She’s back and she has brought Swae Lee. Alicia has released a new song titled “LALA“. The song is a definite a vibe. Have a listen for yourself!

In other news, Alicia has been added to the VMA performers list for this years festivities! Can’t wait to see the first performance for this song.

Get into Alicia’s new self titled album! The album is getting rave reviews from critics.

“Alicia is one of her most musically engaging LPs, with production from Mark Ronson, Sampha, Tricky Stewart, and her husband, Swizz Beatz, among other reliable hands.” – Rolling Stone

“Keys reclaims most of her usual composure on “Alicia,” but it’s often tinged with ambivalence, even in love songs. The music often hollows itself out around her, opening deep bass chasms or surrounding sparse instrumentation with echoey voids.” – NY Times

American Express (NYSE: AXP) is launching the next iteration of “American Express UNSTAGED,” a digital musical experience platform, with a performance by 15-time Grammy® Award-winning singer/songwriter/producer and longtime American Express collaborator, Alicia Keys, to celebrate the release of her new album ALICIA. The virtual performance “American Express UNSTAGED: ALICIA” will take place on September 18, 2020 at 6:00 PM ET, in celebration of Keys’ new album being released the same day, and will provide Card Members and Alicia Keys fans alike with a one-of-a-kind musical and artistic experience from the comfort of their homes.

“The best thing about releasing new music is being able to perform it for the first time live! It’s so exhilarating to experience it alongside beautiful people from all walks of life. I’ve missed performing so much and this is going to be a once in a lifetime visual, musical and emotional experience. I am so thankful to have this opportunity to connect in a real way through the American Express UNSTAGED platform,” said Alicia Keys. “I cannot wait to take you deeper into this new album ALICIA, and all our human complexities. I know it will bring us closer. And we need that more than ever now!”
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The long awaited album from Alicia Keys is finally arriving. The album will be released this Friday, and you can purchase it here! The album will feature Miguel, Khalid, Sampha, Diamond Platnumz, Tierra Whack, Snoh Aalegra, & Jill Scott!

How quickly did the idea to incorporate Boyz II Men into Alicia’s intro come together? They were there to perform with Tyler, the Creator. At that late point you have to work with what you’ve got, you can’t bring someone else in, right?

No. That we couldn’t have done. Alicia was on her way to the stage. It was probably noon, maybe 12:30 p.m. I took her aside and said I have some terrible news, but I have to tell you that you need to keep your focus on what we’re doing here and let us come to you with some thoughts. She was obviously visibly shaken by [the news]. Then we went on with the dress [rehearsal]. We started coming up with a plan and it was basically [Grammy show executives] David Wild, Ben Winston, Garry Hood, who’s my lead stage manager, and myself, and we went into her dressing room. Alicia and I primarily were thinking about songs and we went a little gospel. I never said it, but I was thinking about Boyz II Men. I left and about five minutes later I got a call from one of her people saying, “Hey, can we find Boyz II Men to do “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye to Yesterday.” We found them and they went into her dressing room. It was about 15 minutes before showtime. They spent probably 10 minutes working it out and then it was there.

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