Alicia Keys' debut album,
Songs In A Minor, made a significant impact upon its release in the summer of 2001, catapulting the young singer/songwriter to the front of the neo-soul pack. Critics and audiences were captivated by a 19-year-old singer whose taste and influences ran back further than her years, encompassing everything from
Prince to smooth '70s soul, even a little
Billie Holiday. In retrospect, it was the
idea of
Alicia Keys that was as attractive as the record, since soul fans were hungering for a singer/songwriter who seemed part of the tradition without being as spacy as
Macy Gray or as hippie mystic as
Erykah Badu while being more reliable than
Lauryn Hill.
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