The first disc remains untouched, a pristine example of the marriage between mainstream production values and a singer-songwriter type R&B girl. Through it all she’s become a much different animal than the self-proclaimed caged bird of Harlem’s streets who penned 2004’s Diary of Alicia Keys and Songs in A Minor, and this 10th Anniversary collection serves as an appropriate reminder of just how much she’s evolved as an artist in just one decade. So too has her music expanded from her homely, R&B meets hip-hop roots to include more ballads, more explicitly “inspirational” numbers and cleaner, more nuanced crooning. Over the past decade Keys has grown to accept her fame wholeheartedly, becoming a spokeswoman for all manner of charitable causes, a perennial Grammy performer, and mother of famous hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz’ child. At the time one couldn’t exactly say she was shy, but she often came off more bashful than she does now, less ready for the attention of the camera. It’s very interesting to see how far Alicia Keys has come as a person in the decade since she stormed onto MTV and VH1 with the video for “Fallin'”.
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