She's Got Soul: Alicia Keys' 'The Diary of Alicia Keys' Album Turns 20
This feature is in our Dec. "Creative Arts" Issue. Click here to subscribe.
PHOTO BY WARWICK SAINT/COURTESY OF SONY MUSIC ARCHIVES
At the turn of the 21st century, Alicia Keys (@aliciakeys) was already a star. Her debut album, 2001’s Songs in A Minor, debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart and earned five Grammy wins. Many were eager to see what the singer was going to do next. And her sophomore follow-up, The Diary of Alicia Keys, did not disappoint.
Released on Dec. 2, 2003, the album embodies all of the elements that many loved from Keys (her take on classic soul and jazz) while also introducing a more vulnerable and experimental side.
PHOTO BY WARWICK SAINT/COURTESY OF SONY MUSIC ARCHIVES
“I ALWAYS WROTE IN A LOT OF DIARIES AND JOURNALS, JUST TRYING TO FIND A WAY TO EXPRESS MY FEELINGS IN A PLACE WHERE NOBODY COULD READ IT OR JUDGE IT.” –ALICIA KEYS
“[The album] is a particularly good memory because we were just coming off of the success of Songs in A Minor, which was completely unexpected and explosive,” Keys recalled during her “The B Sides” album performance in 2020. “And then to come back around and create this new body of work was intimidating, exhilarating and everything all at once. I actually camped out at a place called Kampo.”
She continued: “It was a loft studio space in downtown Manhattan. I pretty much stayed there the whole time. So many people came in: [Producer] Easy Mo Bee worked with me on ‘If I Was Your Woman’; Kanye [West] came in for ‘You Don’t Know My Name’; [longtime music partner] Krucial Keys was obviously with me the whole time. We were creating songs like ‘Wake Up’ and ‘Samsonite Man,’ which was one of the first songs I ever did for the album.”
Diary spawned four singles: the soulful “You Don’t Know My Name,” “If I Ain’t Got You” (which she was inspired to write after Aaliyah’s death and later reimagined in 2023 for Netflix’s Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story), the romantic “Diary” and the vengeful “Karma.” “Diaries are such a big deal to me. I always wrote in a lot of diaries and journals,” Keys shared before playing the title track during “The B-Sides” performance, “just trying to find a way to express my feelings in a place where nobody could read it or judge it. I’m able to share my own thoughts with my own self. So the song ‘Diary’ is my joint!”
Just like her debut album, Diary debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It also won three Grammy Awards, including Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “If I Ain’t Got You”, Best R&B Song for “You Don’t Know My Name” and Best R&B Album (her “My Boo” collaboration with Usher also took home a gramophone for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals). Twenty years later, Diary continues to prove there is sustainability in honest and soulful songwriting.