Alicia Keys

[on Prince] I learned about music that didn’t have any barriers or any kind of, like, containment. I learned about wild, crazy topics and ways to express yourself that had never been written in quite that way before. I learned that a human being could be able to defy all stereotypes, and be the epitome of badassness.

I feel as a culture we are ready to look at the truth and address it head on. I think it’s the power of how connected we all are with the digital revolution – there’s no where you can go without seeing the truth. Although it’s upsetting because we can’t believe at this day and age at this time it’s still that blatantly injustice in the world. I think it’s very empowering to do something about it and that’s the reason why I create the We Are Here movement out of my frustration about the apathy in society.

I want my sons to grow up in a world where they’d never think boys are better than girls or that black is better than white.

As I grow and I get older I’m realising more and more that there’s such a beautiful, sensual power that we have as women.

I want to make sure all the issues about race are addressed

Everyone deserves an equal chance at success.

Of course, there are a lot of ways you can treat the blues, but it will still be the blues.

Whatever else has been said about me personally is unimportant. When I sing, I believe I’m honest.

Dance music-as I keep saying, you can dance to a windshield wiper… a windshield wiper that’s fairly steady gives you a beat and all you need is an out-of-tune playing ‘Melancholy Baby’ and you’ve got dance music.

You can have tone and technique but without originality you ain’t really nowhere. Gotta be original.

Everybody has somebody that they patterned themselves after.

I was a singing disc jockey who heard every type of music there was – and loved it all.

If I could read it, I could play it.

Blow your life through your horn.

I didn’t get my music together until I was 40.

A chimpanzee could learn what I do physically, but it goes way beyond that. When you play, you play life.

Jimmy (Wakely) told me, ‘I don’t want you to sound so much like Dinah Washington.’ So, I thought, ‘How can I get around this?’ And one of the people I really dug was Patti Page. So I thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to sound like her.’ I actually did with a couple curly-cues thrown in for effect, but, that’s how I started getting away from the predominant Dinah influence, and getting my own style together.

Anything I do has to be directly related to my music. If it isn’t, I don’t really see a point to it.

If you’re making money people don’t think you’re playing Jazz. When you’re not making money they think you’re a great Jazz musician.

To get the music the way you want it, there’s a lot of work involved.

Ahhh – those Jazz guys are just makin’ that stuff up!