The Importance of Being Yourself

In a far-reaching interview with Zane, Alicia Keys discusses the ways in which her childhood and the things she had to overcome led to the clarity of her latest album ALICIA, her first in four years. She offers a deep dive into the mindset behind and the making of the music, which is some of her most expansive and collaborative to date. “There’s something so crazy about what I bring and then what you bring. It’s going to be completely different, and there’s something about the merging of energy that’s fascinating to me,” she says. “Now I feel like that’s another alchemy that’s created that I love the process of—that process of being open and receiving what’s meant to come from each person and creating something out of nothing is always incredible.” The conversation, much like the album, is as vulnerable as it is refreshing.