Alicia Keys Max Masters - Part 2 of 4

She turned down her scholarship for a demo deal with Columbia Records. Alicia co-wrote and recorded a song which featured in the blockbuster film Men in Black. It was never released as a single and her union with Columbia soon ended. Alicia then met powerful industry mogul Clive Davies who originally signed her to Arista Records and eventually to J Records. Me and my manager Jeff Robinson we looked at each other like okay so what are we going to do and we believed enough in my stuff to find somebody who also believed in it. So at the time it was Arista where Clive was and so he brought my stuff into Clive and that was the first time he ever heard it and he loved it and so he wanted to meet me and you know that was how our first meeting was set up and when all of that went well, sorry I'm giving you the three second version of it, he moved over to J. You know I had the option to go numerous places at that time but I felt loyalty to somebody who was loyal to me when I needed help the most and so we went over there with him. Alicia recorded Rock With You and Rearview Mirror both featuring on film soundtracks but all this was nothing compared to the incredible success of her first album Songs in A Minor. When I sing that song every night I'm like wow like who'd have thought that all of this from that you know what I mean and you know people told us that was a bad record to go with nobody plays you know slow records it'll never cross over nobody's gonna get it you won't make it that I mean they told us everything under the sun but it felt good and it felt special and when people heard it they were moved and you know all the pieces just fell into place so it's definitely you know my calling card it's like my my little baby you know and I cherish and respect it. After a cleverly orchestrated appearance on Oprah the day before release, the album rocketed straight to number one. It was well received by critics, hailing Alicia as the likely successor to Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu. When the album first came out and I saw it even still it's funny and I saw it all packaged and everything it was like the funniest feeling I would just look at it almost like outside of myself I think so it was very satisfying to feel so comfortable with what I was putting out there I just felt very confident in it and I felt good about it and I was ready to just support it all the way. Not just dough but a show that you know she's worth your time You will lose if you choose to refuse to put her first She will and she can find a man who knows her worth And a real woman knows a real man always comes first And a real man just can't deny a woman's worth A Woman's Worth was another another incredible one I remember finishing up that song and just feeling so good about it you know just just that statement of saying you know I'm worth it it's such an incredible thing to say and it's funny because that came from the commercial I'm worth it that's exactly where that came from and it was so silly it was like Christmas and I was sitting there watching TV and I was like that's something to say and so that's how the song came together but to do the video I remember we flew in from some crazy place and I had like no sleep and we just hopped off the bus and into the thing and I'm surprised I even stayed awake for that video but it came together so great and obviously tying that into Fallen was like a great progression of the story Don't take for granted the passions that she has for you You will lose if you choose to refuse to put her first She will and she can find a man who knows her worth Knows a real man, knows a real woman, when he sees her And a real woman knows a real man, ain't afraid to believe me And a real woman knows a real man, always comes first And a real man just can't deny a woman's worth At that time I was just thanking God that I could put my music out so please God I don't care whatever happens happens if I have to work and never sleep ever just to get two people to like my music I don't care just please let this come out so that the people can hear it they can judge it as opposed to all of these higher-ups not knowing a damn thing about anything telling me what's good and what's bad that's all I cared about I you know I don't care I said if I have to play little small smoky clothes forever let me just please get this album out Alicia took home five Grammy awards the following year including Best New Artist, Best R&B Album and Best R&B Song. As part of her acceptance speech she urged people to not be afraid of who they are no matter what they do. A mantra that arguably forms the foundation of Alicia's grounding philosophy.