Alicia Augello Cook, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Columbia Records. After disputes with the label, she signed with Arista Records and soon released her debut album, Songs in A Minor with J Records in 2001. The album became a critical and commercial success, selling over 12 million copies worldwide. It contained the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Fallin'", and earned Keys an unprecedented five Grammy Awards in 2002. Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), was also a critical and commercial success, selling eight million copies worldwide and spawning the singles "You Don't Know My Name", "If I Ain't Got You", and "Diary". The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards.
Usher Raymond IV is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Primarily performing in the R&B genre, he debuted with his self-titled album Usher (1994), and rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way (1997). It spawned his first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Nice & Slow", and saw similar success with its follow-ups "You Make Me Wanna..." and "My Way". His third album, 8701 (2001), saw continued success with the number one singles "U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad", as well as the top-three single "U Don't Have to Call". It sold eight million copies worldwide and won his first two Grammy Awards as Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 2002 and 2003.
Confessions is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Usher. It was released on March 23, 2004, by Arista Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during 2003 to 2004, with its production handled by his longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri, along with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Lil Jon, among others. Primarily an R&B album, Confessions showcases Usher as a crooner through a mixture of ballads and up-tempos, incorporating musical genres of dance-pop, hip hop and crunk. The album's themes generated controversy about Usher's personal relationships; however, the album's primary producer Jermaine Dupri claimed the album reflects Dupri's own personal story.
The 2004 MTV Europe Music Awards were held at Tor di Valle Racecourse, Rome, Italy. As in 2003, the awards ceremony was held in a 6,000-capacity big top arena constructed specifically for the main event.
The 47th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2003, through September 30, 2004. They were hosted by Queen Latifah, and televised in the United States by CBS. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Ray Charles, whom the event was dedicated in memory of, posthumously won five Grammy Awards while his album, Genius Loves Company, won a total of eight. Kanye West received the most nominations with ten, winning three. Usher received eight nominations and won three including Best Contemporary R&B Album for his diamond selling album Confessions. Britney Spears received her first Grammy of Best Dance Recording for her 2004 smash hit "Toxic".
The Diary of Alicia Keys is the second studio album by American singer Alicia Keys. It was released on December 2, 2003, by J Records. The album was recorded at several recording studios, and production was handled primarily by Keys with contributions from Kanye West and Kerry Brothers Jr., who described it as "an R&B album".
"Confessions Part II" is a song by R&B singer Usher, produced by Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox for Usher's fourth album Confessions. Written by Usher, Dupri and Cox, the song is a confession of a man to his woman about his impregnated mistress. This is a continuation of "Confessions Part I" which relates to a man's infidelity. Its personal content evoked rumors and early responses from the public even before its release, believing that Usher was asserting the truth; however, Dupri divulged that the story behind the album is about himself.
R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks the top R&B and hip hop songs in the United States, based on audience impressions from a panel of radio stations monitored by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. It was also used in sister publication R&R, which listed the chart as Urban National Airplay. The chart is not the R&B/hip-hop subset of the Hot 100 Airplay chart, but rather uses a separate panel of R&B stations in urban and urban adult contemporary markets. It was the primary airplay component chart of the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart until the issue dated October 20, 2012, when Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs was revamped to include digital sales, streaming, and airplay from all radio formats. The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart encompasses two separate airplay charts, both of which are based on radio spins rather than audience impressions: Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop and Adult R&B Airplay, which measure airplay on urban contemporary and urban adult contemporary stations respectively.
Contemporary R&B is a popular music genre that combines rhythm and blues with elements of pop, soul, funk, hip hop, and electronic music.
"You Don't Know My Name" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). It was written by Keys, Kanye West and Harold Lilly, and produced by Keys and West. The song contains a sample from the 1975 song "Let Me Prove My Love to You", written by J. R. Bailey, Mel Kent and Ken Williams and performed by The Main Ingredient. It was released as the lead single from The Diary of Alicia Keys on November 10, 2003, by J Records.
"If I Ain't Got You" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). Inspired by the 2001 death of singer Aaliyah, the September 11 attacks, and other events in the world and in Keys' life, the song is about "how material things don't feed the soul". It was released as the second single from The Diary of Alicia Keys on February 17, 2004, by J Records. The single cover depicts Keys similarly to the subject of Man Ray's 1924 photograph Le Violon d'Ingres.
"My Boo" is a duet between American R&B singers Usher and Alicia Keys, written by the artists alongside Adonis Shropshire, Manuel Seal, and Jermaine Dupri, the latter of which produced it with an No I.D., who's uncredited. It was included on the re-release of Usher's fourth studio album, Confessions (2004). The song was released as the album's fourth single in 2004.
The MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2005 were hosted by Takashi Fujii and Megumi at Tokyo Bay NK Hall, the awards included performances by Namie Amuro, Rain, Mariah Carey, Hoobastank, Jamiroquai and Ashanti.
The Element of Freedom is the fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys, released on December 11, 2009, by J Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during May to September 2009 at the Oven Studios in Long Island, New York. Production was primarily handled by Keys, Kerry Brothers Jr., and Jeff Bhasker. Departing from the classicist soul music of Keys' previous albums, The Element of Freedom has a mid-tempo, low-key sound and features mostly love songs.
The 2002 Soul Train Music Awards were held on 20 March 2002 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sport Arena in Los Angeles, California. The show was hosted by Arsenio Hall, Yolanda Adams, Faith Evans and Shemar Moore.
The 2004 Soul Train Music Awards were held on March 20, 2004 at the International Cultural Center Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The show was hosted by Alicia Keys and Babyface.
The 2005 Soul Train Music Awards were held on March 12, 2005 at the Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California. The show was hosted by Brian McKnight, Fantasia, Nick Cannon and Nicole Richie.
The 2010 Soul Train Music Awards were held at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia on November 28, 2010. The show was hosted by Oscar nominated actor Terrence Howard and Oscar nominated actress Taraji P. Henson. Performers included El DeBarge, R. Kelly, Erykah Badu, Ron Isley, Lalah Hathaway, Bilal, Cee Lo Green. Tributes were made to artists Ron Isley, and Anita Baker.
The 4th BET Awards took place at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California on June 29, 2004. The awards recognized Americans in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. Comedienne Mo'Nique hosted the event for the second time.
American recording artist Alicia Keys has appeared in numerous music videos. Her videography includes more than thirty music videos and three video albums. In 2000, Keys signed a recording contract with J Records and released her debut single "Fallin'", taken from her first studio album Songs in A minor (2001). The plot of its music video had Keys traveling to a prison to visit her incarcerated boyfriend and was continued in the video for her next single, "A Woman's Worth;" both videos marked Keys' first collaboration with director Chris Robinson, who would become a regular collaborator later. In 2004, another regular, American director Diane Martel, directed the accompanying music video for the second single from the singer's second album The Diary of Alicia Keys, "If I Ain't Got You", which featured rapper Method Man as Keys' love interest. It won the Best R&B Video accolade at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards.
