Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)
2010 single by Alicia Keys

"Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" is a song by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys from her fourth studio album The Element of Freedom (2009), that features uncredited background vocals from Canadian rapper Drake, although he is credited on the official remix of the song. It was initially scheduled to be the fifth single, but it was released as the fourth single. It was her first single to reach number one on the R&B chart in the United States since 2007's "Like You'll Never See Me Again". "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" spent twelve consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs, becoming the longest-running number-one single of 2010. The song topped the Billboard Adult R&B Songs, and reached number twenty-one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Composition
"Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" is a down-tempo R&B song written by Alicia Keys, Aubrey Graham, Kerry Brothers Jr., and Noah "40" Shebib in the key of B minor.
Critical reception
Mariel Concepcion from Billboard magazine called the song the album's "standout track". Concepcion said that Keys "goes from entertaining puppy love to confessing deeper emotions", adding that she "sings nervously over extended piano strokes" and "has never sounded quite as vulnerable and exposed as she does here." Ashante Infantry from Toronto Star also picked the song as the album's top track saying "Keys is as sexy as she's ever been on the sultry" track. Allison Stewart from The Washington Post said that Drake's appearance on the song is pointless, "filling some sort of unspoken requirement that every female R&B album contain an appearance by at least one cool-but-unthreatening hip-hop star." Molly Lambert of Pitchfork ranked the song as the 64th best song of the year, writing: "Keys always puts out one perfect song per album. It's an instant babymaking classic.
The public source identifies “Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)” as 2010 single by Alicia Keys. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Un-Thinkable, Ready and single.
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