Alicia Keys was expected to be a Mariah clone
Singing Superstar Alicia Keys had problems getting her career off the ground when was starting out - because she was expected to be a clone of Mariah Carey. The star, 21, got her first record deal with Columbia Records when she was a teenager, but she was quickly discouraged when she realised that she wasn't expected to be herself.
She explains, "I felt they wanted me to be a clone of Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston, and I couldn't do that. I'm very low maintenance. I like people to concentrate on what's simple, so I can focus on what's important to me - music. I'm not the sequined-dress type or the high-heeled type or the all-cleavage type. I'm not coming like that for no one."
The Grammy-winning songstress adds, "I very much wanted to write my own songs, produce my own songs, really be involved in the creative process. And a lot of people told me that I wouldn't be able to do that. I didn't listen to what they said. I ignored them completely and continued to write and sing what I felt and learn music as I know it."
Alicia eventually joined music mogul Clive Davis at his new label J Records and has not looked back since. She says, "They loved the fact that I had my own thing, my own vibe, 100 per cent me. You should never be afraid to be different. You should not always listen to what other people tell you, because they don't always know." (WENN)
|
