After two long years, Alicia Keys has returned with a bang. We all remember and loved her first album, Songs in A Minor, which dropped in 2001. Her worldwide sales of over 10 million units can attest to that, as well as her domination of the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002. She walked away with five trophies that night and scored a host of other awards that year. Now she has blessed us with “The Diary” and in its first week, sales reached over 618,000 copies.

This album, which features production by Kanye West, Timbaland, Easy Mo Bee, Tony, Toni, Tone as well as Keys herself, takes us back to the R&B music made during the soulful eras of the 60s and 70s. Alicia just seems to have this gift for writing songs that transport you into her experience. Not a talent shared by many, especially when covering songs written by someone else. On this album she covers a tune made popular by Gladys Knight and The Pips titled, “If I Were Your Woman”, and when I heard Alicia’s rendition I instantly fell in love with the song. Unlike other artists, Alicia doesn’t try to compete or out-sing Gladys, she performs the song her way and makes it her own as she does everything else she performs.

Some of the other standouts on the album include the first single, “You Don’t Know My Name”, “If I Ain’t Got You” & “When You Really Love Someone”. Of the album Alicia says “I’ve just evolved so much and I’ve grown so much vocally and musically. My production has grown, my songwriting & I’ve evolved as a woman. Every single song on the album, I’ve poured my heart and soul into.” And it definitely shows, job well done Ms. Keys. Her mentor Clive Davis, Chairman of RCA Records Group said, “For Alicia to enter the charts again at #1 with her second album is truly stunning. That and her four star album reviews are really inspiring everyone who believes that uncompromising great music can still rule the charts.”

In 2004 Alicia will take to the road again with a new tour. She has decided to start off the year with a series of concerts in smaller venues that allow her to connect with her audience. Pretty soon we should all be able to see her in venues other than stages and arenas. It seems she has caught the acting bug, and since her mother is an actress I guess she caught it honestly. Lately, when she gets a free moment she reads scripts. “I feel like acting is a wonderful way of expression just like music is, so I think you're gonna see that soon” she stated. It was rumored that she was to star in the remake of “A Star Is Born” with Will Smith, she says that story was blown out of proportion. Well, maybe she’ll do it anyway, it would only be right, after all 2 _ years ago a star was born, and her name is Alicia Keys.