Songs in A Minor
2001 debut studio album by Alicia Keys
Songs in A Minor is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys. It was released on June 26, 2001, by J Records. A classically trained pianist, Keys wrote, arranged and produced the majority of the album herself, though she frequently worked with her then-partner Kerry "Krucial" Brothers. The efforts resulted in a neo soul record fusing contemporary classical music with R&B, soul, and jazz, alongside influences of hip-hop, blues, and gospel. Its lyrics focus on themes of love, perseverance, self-worth, survival, and introspection. Despite the album's title, only two of its tracks are composed in the key of A minor.
Keys began writing songs for her debut studio album in 1995, aged 14, before signing a record deal with Columbia Records in 1996. Dissatisfied with Columbia's attempts to control her artistry and diminish her own creative inputs, she began recording Songs in A Minor independently in 1998. Upon being presented with finished recordings, Columbia rejected them. Around that time, Keys met Clive Davis, founder and then-president of Arista Records, who was impressed with her and bought out her contract with Columbia to sign her at Arista.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q900686. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2001, 1995, 1996 and 1998.
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This entry incorporates text from “Songs in A Minor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.