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''Songs in A Minor'' is the debut studio album by American recording artist Alicia Keys. It was released in the United States on June 5, 2001 by J Records. After graduating from high school, Keys signed with Columbia Records to begin her music career. She recorded an album in 1998 under the label, which they rejected. Her contract subsequently ended with Columbia after a dispute with the label, and Keys later signed with Clive Davis. An accomplished, classically trained pianist, Keys wrote, arranged and produced a majority of the album, including "Jane Doe", which was the only song in the key of A minor. ''Songs in A Minor'' is a neo soul album with a diverse musical style that incorporates hip hop, soul, jazz and elements of gospel music. Its songs feature classical piano references and arpeggios, and are backed by haunting melodies, funk, classic soul structures, values to hyper-modern production technique and lyrics about the complexities and stages of romantic relationships. All of the album content was co-written by Keys except for two; one being a cover of Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" (1982). Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics, who noted her ability to catch an old-school jazz sound and mix it with R&B and soul melodies. The album earned Keys several awards and accolades, including five Grammy Awards at the 44th Grammy Awards. ''Songs in A Minor'' debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling over 236,000 copies in its first week. It has sold over 6.2 million copies in the United States and twelve million copies worldwide. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine named ''Songs in A Minor'' the second best album of 2001, while ranking it number 95 on its list of the best albums of the 2000s decade. In 2013 ''Entertainment Weekly'' ranked the album at the 57th position among the greatest albums of all time. ==Background and recording== After graduating from the Professional Performing Arts School, Keys was accepted to Columbia University. She dropped out after four weeks to pursue her music career. She signed a demo deal with Jermaine Dupri and his So So Def label. Keys co-wrote and recorded a song titled "Dah Dee Dah (Sexy Thing)", which appeared on the soundtrack to the 1997 hit film, ''Men in Black''. She also contributed to the So So Def Christmas recordings.〔 Keys began writing, producing and recording the album in 1998. She completed it that same year, but it was rejected by Columbia Records. Keys explained that the producers she worked with would tell her to "just get in the booth and sing", which frustrated her. Her record contract with Columbia ended after a dispute with the label. Keys then performed for Clive Davis, who sensed a "special, unique" artist; he bought Keys' contract from Columbia and signed her to Arista Records, which later disbanded. Following Davis to his newly formed J Records label, Keys rented an apartment and struggled to create an album. She began writing the song "Troubles" and came to a realization: "That's when the album started comin' together. Finally, I knew how to structure my feelings into something that made sense, something that can translate to people. That was a changing point. My confidence was up, way up." Keys learned how to produce by asking questions to the producers and engineers; she wrote, arranged and produced a majority of the album.〔 She recorded the songs "Rock wit U" and "Rear View Mirror", which were featured on the soundtracks to the films ''Shaft'' (2000) and ''Dr. Dolittle 2'' (2001), respectively. One of the final songs Keys recorded was "Fallin'".〔 A total of 32 songs were recorded for the album. Originally titled ''Soul Stories in A Minor'', the title of the album was changed over concerns that it would limit exposure only to black radio stations.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Songs in A Minor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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