Throughout her career, Keys has won numerous awards including 14 Grammy awards and has sold over 75 million records worldwide. Billboard magazine named her the top R&B artist of the 2000–2009 decade, establishing herself as one of the best-selling artists of her time. In 2010, VH1 included Keys on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Keys released her first studio album, Songs in A Minor, in June 2001. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 236,000 copies in its first week. The album sold over 6.2 million copies in the United States, where it was certified six times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It went on to sell over 13 million copies worldwide, establishing Keys' popularity both inside and outside the United States, where she became the best-selling new artist and best-selling R&B artist of 2001. The album's lead single, Fallin', spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album's second single, A Woman's Worth, peaked at number three on the same chart. The following year, the album was reissued as Remixed & Unplugged in A Minor, which included eight remixes and seven unplugged versions of the songs from the original.
Songs in A Minor led Keys to win five awards at the 2002 Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best R&B Song for Fallin', Best New Artist, and Best R&B Album; Fallin' was also nominated for Record of the Year. Keys became the second female solo artist to win five Grammy Awards in a single night, following Lauryn Hill at the 41st Grammy Awards. That same year, she collaborated with Christina Aguilera for the latter's upcoming album Stripped on a song entitled Impossible, which Keys wrote, co-produced, and provided with background vocals. During the early 2000s, Keys also made small cameos in television series Charmed and American Dreams.
Keys followed up her debut with The Diary of Alicia Keys, which was released in December 2003. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling over 618,000 copies its first week of release, becoming the largest first-week sales for a female artist in 2003. It sold 4.4 million copies in the United States and was certified four times Platinum by the RIAA. It sold nine million copies worldwide, becoming the sixth biggest-selling album by a female artist and the second biggest-selling album by a female R&B artist. The singles You Don't Know My Name and If I Ain't Got You both reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the third single, Diary, entered the top ten. The fourth single, Karma, was less successful on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 20. If I Ain't Got You became the first single by a female artist to remain on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for over a year.
Keys won Best R&B Video for If I Ain't Got You at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards; she performed the song and Higher Ground with Lenny Kravitz and Stevie Wonder. Later that year, Keys released her novel Tears for Water: Songbook of Poems and Lyrics, a collection of unreleased poems from her journals and lyrics. The title derived from one of her poems, "Love and Chains" from the line: "I don't mind drinking my tears for water." She said the title is the foundation of her writing because "everything I have ever written has stemmed from my tears of joy, of pain, of sorrow, of depression, even of question". The book sold over US$500,000 and Keys made The New York Times bestseller list in 2005. The following year, she won a second consecutive award for Best R&B Video at the MTV Video Music Awards for the video Karma. Keys performed If I Ain't Got You and then joined Jamie Foxx and Quincy Jones in a rendition of Georgia on My Mind, the Hoagy Carmichael song made famous by Ray Charles in 1960 at the 2005 Grammy Awards. That evening, she won four Grammy Awards: Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for If I Ain't Got You, Best R&B Song for You Don't Know My Name, Best R&B Album for The Diary of Alicia Keys, and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals" for My Boo with Usher.
Keys performed and taped her installment of the MTV Unplugged series in July 2005 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. During this session, Keys added new arrangements to her original songs and performed a few choice covers. The session was released on CD and DVD in October 2005. Simply titled Unplugged, the album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart with 196,000 units sold in its first week of release. The album sold one million copies in the United States, where it was certified Platinum by the RIAA, and two million copies worldwide. The debut of Keys' Unplugged was the highest for an MTV Unplugged album since Nirvana's 1994 MTV Unplugged in New York and the first Unplugged by a female artist to debut at number one. The album's first single, Unbreakable, peaked at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It remained at number one on the Billboard Hot Adult R&B Airplay for 11 weeks.
Keys opened a recording studio in Long Island, New York, called The Oven Studios, which she co-owns with her production and songwriting partner Kerry "Krucial" Brothers. The studio was designed by renowned studio architect John Storyk of WSDG, designer of Jimi Hendrix' Electric Lady Studios. Keys and Brothers are the co-founders of KrucialKeys Enterprises, a production and songwriting team who assisted Keys in creating her albums as well as create music for other artists.
In 2006, Keys won three NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Song for Unbreakable. She also received the Starlight Award by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In October 2006, she played the voice of Mommy Martian in the "Mission to Mars" episode of the children's television series The Backyardigans, in which she sang an original song, Almost Everything Is Boinga Here. That same year, Keys nearly suffered a mental breakdown. Her grandmother had died and her family was heavily dependent on her. She felt she needed to "escape" and went to Egypt for three weeks. She explained: "That trip was definitely the most crucial thing I've ever done for myself in my life to date. It was a very difficult time that I was dealing with, and it just came to the point where I really needed to—basically, I just needed to run away, honestly. And I needed to get as far away as possible."
Keys released her third studio album, As I Am, in November 2007; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 742,000 copies in its first week. It gained Keys her largest first week sales of her career and became her fourth consecutive number one album, tying her with Britney Spears for the most consecutive number-one debuts on the Billboard 200 by a female artist. The week became the second largest sales week of 2007 and the largest sales week for a female solo artist since singer Norah Jones' album Feels like Home in 2004. The album has sold nearly four million copies in the United States and has been certified three times Platinum by the RIAA. It has sold nearly six million copies worldwide. Keys received five nominations for As I Am at the 2008 American Music Award and ultimately won two. The album's lead single, No One, peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, becoming Keys' third and fifth number-one single on each chart, respectively. The album's second single, Like You'll Never See Me Again, was released in late 2007 and peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The album's third single, Teenage Love Affair, peaked at number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. She released the fourth single, Superwoman, which peaked at number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 12 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
No One earned Keys the awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Keys opened the ceremony singing Frank Sinatra's 1950s song Learnin' the Blues as a "duet" with archival footage of Sinatra in video and No One with John Mayer later in the show. Keys also won Best Female R&B Artist during the show. Keys, along with The White Stripes' guitarist and lead vocalist Jack White, recorded the theme song to Quantum of Solace, the first duet in Bond soundtrack history. In 2008, Keys was ranked in at number 80 the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists. She also received three nominations at the 2009 Grammy Awards and won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for Superwoman.
In an interview with Blender magazine, Keys allegedly said "'Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other, 'gangsta rap' didn't exist" and went on to say that it was created by "the government". The magazine also claimed she said that Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. were "essentially assassinated, their beefs stoked by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing". Keys later wrote a statement clarifying the issues and saying her words were misinterpreted. Later that year, Keys was criticized by anti-smoking campaigners after billboard posters for her forthcoming concerts in Indonesia featured a logo for the A Mild cigarette brand sponsored by tobacco firm Philip Morris. She apologized after discovering that the concert was sponsored by the firm and asked for "corrective actions". In response, the company withdrew its sponsorship.
Keys collaborated with record producer Swizz Beatz to write and produce Million Dollar Bill for Whitney Houston's seventh studio album, I Look to You. Keys had approached Clive Davis for permission to submit a song for the album. Keys also collaborated with recording artist Jay-Z on the song Empire State of Mind from his 2009 album, The Blueprint 3. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 and became her fourth number-one single on that chart.
The following month, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers honored Keys with the Golden Note Award, an award given to artists "who have achieved extraordinary career milestones". She collaborated with Spanish recording artist Alejandro Sanz for Looking for Paradise, which topped the Hot Latin Songs chart. Keys released her fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom, in December 2009. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 417,000 copies in its first week. As part of the promotional drive for the album, she performed at the Cayman Island Jazz Festival on December 5, the final night of the three day festival which will be broadcast on Black Entertainment Television (BET). The album's lead single, Doesn't Mean Anything, has peaked at number 60 on the Billboard Hot 100. Keys was ranked as the top R&B recording artist of the 2000–2009 decade by Billboard magazine and ranked at number five as artist of the decade, while her song, No One, was ranked at number six on the magazine's songs of the decade. In the United Kingdom, The Element of Freedom became Keys' first album to top the UK Albums Chart.
According to Songfacts, Keys said regarding the title of her fifth studio album, Girl On Fire. "Before making this record, in some ways I felt like a lion locked in a cage. I felt like a girl misunderstood that no one really knew, I felt like it was time to stop making excuses for any part of my life that I wanted to change. Once I made that choice I became a Girl on Fire, the lion broke free!!" The title track will be made available on iTunes and radio on September 4, 2012.
In May 2009, Swizz Beatz announced that he and Keys were romantically involved, and in May 2010, a representative for Keys and Swizz Beatz confirmed that they were engaged and expecting a child together. During the time of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the couple took part of a union and had the unborn child blessed in a Zulu ceremony, which took place in the Illovo suburb of South Africa. Keys and Swizz Beatz were married on the French island of Corsica on July 31, 2010. On October 14, 2010, Keys gave birth to a son, Egypt Daoud Ibarr Dean, in New York City.
1997
Karma
Alicia Keys Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That you don't want me anymore
And how you need your space
And give the keys back to your door
And how I cried and tried
And tried to make you stay with me
But still you said the love was gone
And that I had to leave
(Now you) talkin' bout a family
(Now you) sayin' I complete your dream, ooh
(Now you) sayin' I'm your everything
You're confusing me, what you say to me
Don't play with me, don't play with me, 'cause
(What goes around, comes around)
(What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back to me
(What goes around, comes around)
(What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back
I remember when I was sittin' home alone
Waiting for you 'til three o'clock in the morn'
And when you came home
You'd always have some sorry excuse
Half explaining to me
Like I'm just some kind of a fool
I sacrificed the things I want
Just to do things for you
But when it's time to do for me
You never come through
(Now you) wanna be up under me, ayy
(Now you) have so much to say to me, hey
(Now you) wanna make time for me
What you do to me, you're confusing me
Don't play with me, don't play with me, 'cause
(What goes around, comes around)
(What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back to me
(What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back
I remember when I was sittin' home alone
Waiting for you 'til three o'clock in the morn'
Night after night, knowing somethin' goin' on
Wasn't long before I be g-g-gone
Lord knows it wasn't easy, believe me
Never thought you'd be the one that would deceive me
And never do what you supposed to do
No need to approach me boo, 'cause I'm over you
(What goes around, comes around)
(What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back to me
(What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down)
Gotta stop cryin', to come back to me
(What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down)
It's called Karma baby and it goes around
(What goes around, comes around) around
(What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back to me
In the song "Karma," Alicia Keys sings about an ex-lover who left her despite her efforts to make him stay. She cries and begs him not to forsake her, but he remains firm in his decision to end things. However, the tables turn when he comes back to her, claiming that he wants to start a family and that she completes his dream. Alicia is confused by his sudden change of heart and warns him not to play with her emotions because karma always comes around. The lyrics take the listener on a journey of an emotional roller coaster and paint a picture of a woman who has been wronged but doesn't take it lying down.
Throughout the song, Keys plays with the concept of karma, suggesting that the ex-lover will get what he deserves. She sings, "What goes around, comes around," indicating that she believes that if he hurt her, he'll eventually experience a similar pain. The lyrics are raw and emotional, with Keys showcasing her incredible vocal range, especially when she sings, "Now who's crying, desiring to come back to me."
In summary, "Karma" is a song about the consequences of a failed relationship where one person leaves the other. Eventually, the one who left comes back, but the other person is not willing to play any games, making it a classic karma situation where the person who wronged reap what they sow.
Line by Line Meaning
Weren't you the one that said
You were the one who said that you didn't want me anymore
That you don't want me anymore
You no longer want to be with me
And how you need your space
You said that you needed space
And give the keys back to your door
You returned the keys to my front door
And how I cried and tried
I cried and tried to make you stay
And tried to make you stay with me
I tried to make you stay with me
But still you said the love was gone
You said that the love was gone
And that I had to leave
And you asked me to leave
(Now you) talkin' bout a family
Now you're talking about starting a family with me
(Now you) sayin' I complete your dream, ooh
You're saying that I complete your dream
(Now you) sayin' I'm your everything
You're saying that I'm everything to you
You're confusing me, what you say to me
You're confusing me with what you're saying
Don't play with me, don't play with me, 'cause
Don't play with me, don't mess with me
(What goes around, comes around
The consequences of your actions will come back to you
What goes up, must come down)
Anything that goes up must eventually come down
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back to me
Now you're the one who is crying and wanting to come back to me
I remember when I was sittin' home alone
I remember when I was sitting at home by myself
Waiting for you 'til three o'clock in the morn'
Waiting for you until three in the morning
And when you came home
And when you finally came home
You'd always have some sorry excuse
You always had some lame excuse
Half explaining to me
Only partially explaining to me
Like I'm just some kind of a fool
Like I'm some kind of a fool
I sacrificed the things I want
I gave up the things I wanted
Just to do things for you
Just to do things for you
But when it's time to do for me
But when it's time to do something for me
You never come through
You never follow through
(Now you) wanna be up under me, ay
Now you want to be close to me
(Now you) have so much to say to me, hey
Now you have so much to say to me
(Now you) want to make time for me
Now you want to make time for me
What you do to me, you're confusing me
What you're doing to me is confusing me
Don't play with me, don't play with me, 'cause
Don't play with me, don't mess with me
Gotta stop cryin', to come back to me
You need to stop crying if you want to come back to me
It's called Karma baby and it goes around
This is called Karma and it comes full circle
(What goes around, comes around) around
The consequences of your actions will come back to you
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back to me
Now you're the one who is crying and wanting to come back to me
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: Alicia J Augello Cook, Kerry D Jr Brothers, Taneisha Smith
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@josevincentoralde4364
Weren't you the one that said
That you don't want me anymore
And how you need your space
And give the keys back to your door
And how I cried and tried
And tried to make you stay with me
But still you said the love was gone
And that I had to leave
talkin' bout a family
(Now you) sayin' I complete your dream
(Now you) sayin' I'm your everything
You're confusing me, what you say to me
Don't play with me, don't play with me, 'cause
(What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back to me
(What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back
I remember when I was sittin' home alone
Waiting for you 'til three o'clock in the morn'
And when you came home
You'd always have some sorry excuse
Half explaining to me
Like I'm just some kind of a fool
I sacrificed the things I want
Just to do things for you
But when it's time to do for me
You never come through
wanna be up under me
(Now you) have so much to say to me, hey
(Now you) want to make time for me
What you do to me, your confusing me
Don't play with me, don't play with me, 'cause
(What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin, desirin' to come back to me
(What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin, desirin' to come back
I remember when I was sittin' home alone
Waiting for you 'til three o'clock in the morn'
Night after night, knowing somethin' goin' on
Wasn't long before I be g-g-gone
Lord knows it wasn't easy, believe me
Never thought you'd be the one that would deceive me
And never do what you supposed to do
No need to approach me boo, 'cause I'm over you
(What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back to me
(What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down)
Gotta stop cryin', to come back to me
(Goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down)
He's cryin', cryin, my baby
And it goes around
(What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down)
Now who's cryin', desirin' to come back to me
@sholehmahfudin4408
"Karma"
Weren't you the one that said that you don't want me anymore
And how you need your space and give the keys back to your door
And how I cried and tried and tried to make you stay with me
But still you said that love was gone and that I had to leave
Now you, talking 'bout a family
Now you, saying I complete your dream
Now you, saying I'm your everything
You're confusing me
What you say to me
Don't play with me
Don't play with me
'Cause what goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down
Now who's crying, desiring to come back to me
What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down
Now who's crying, desiring to come back
I remember when
I was sitting home alone
Waiting for you
'Til three o'clock in the morn'
And when you came home, you'd always have some sorry excuse
Half-explaining to me, like I'm just some kind of a fool
I sacrificed the things I want just to do things for you
But when it's time to do for me, you never come through
Now you, wanna be a part of me (Ay)
Now you, have so much to say to me (Hey)
Now you, wanna make time for me
What you doing to me?
You're confusing me
Don't play with me
Don't play with me
'Cause what goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down
Now who's crying, desiring to come back to me
What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down
Now who's crying, desiring to come back
I remember when
I was sitting home alone
Waiting for you
'Til three o'clock in the morn
Night after night
Knowing something going on
Wasn't home before me
You was, you was gone
Lord knows it wasn't easy, believe me
Never thought you'd be the one that would deceived me
And never do what you was supposed to do
No need to approach me boo, 'cause I'm over you
'Cause what goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down
Now who's crying, desiring to come back to me
What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down
Gotta stop trying, to come back to me
What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must come down
It's called karma, baby
And it goes around
What goes around, comes around
What goes up, must comes down
Now who's crying, desiring to come back to me
@prestozer
This woman was so big back then, more talented than Beyonce
@damionasplace9517
Why must we compare? They are both great artist in their own right ✅
@stephenanderson1594
This is when artists cared about their videos Alicia even travel to Italy to get those awesome shots merging New York hip hop with Italian strings representing her mixed Black and Italian heritage. The video looks exactly like the song if that makes sense LOL.
@itsAurora-zq8cb
Wow I didn't no she had Italian roots. . That's really awesome she transferred this into the video
@valentinaelenasavin8202
Somebody would say that they love to appear but honestly,this is the kind of art ,where u slap everyone with beeing really a PERFECTIONIST
@patremagilbert8787
True
@patremagilbert8787
Now everything is CGI
@christiana.2755
This video was shot in Altos de Chavon, DR not Italy. But ok lol
@ayotadhiambo
The violin is so prominent here and it's the icing on the cake of this song!
@rebeccablack1286
What type of cake?, i love cake! 🍰