7/28/2019 Aha Moment: Alicia Keys
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P H O T O G R A P H B Y N I N O M U N O Z
The singerwhose new album, Girl on Fire, is out nowrevealshow
she learned to get along without going along.
hoped it would. When we did eventu-
ally release the song Id wanted, it
was a hit.
In my business, you begin with
this very personal thingyour
musicand then you start showing
it to people, and all of a sudden
theyre throwing statistics and
breakdowns at you, and theres a
deadline, and you have to hurry up
and make the best choice and reach
the biggest audience, and you have
to, have to, have toyou find your-
self trying to make everyone happy,
even as you feel yourself recede.
Then one day last summer I shared
my frustration with a close family
friend. Her advice was simple:Dont compromisecooperate! It
suddenly made sense: I can listen to
people, welcome them into my
world, and respect what they have to
say. But that doesnt mean I have to
compromise what feels right to me.
That realization has trickled into
every aspect of my life. Recently, I got
into an argument with a girlfriend.
In the past, I mightve let her con-
vince me how to feel. But this time I
stood my ground and didnt change
my position just to end the fight. We
went back and forth, like friends
often do, but in that argument we
still loved each other, respected each
other, and were compassionate to-
ward each other, even though neither
of us compromised our viewpoint.
Ive learned that while Id be a fool
not to stay open to the advice and
experiences of the smart, amazing
people in my life, I also need to listen to what
I have to say. Id rather believe in my own
choice and see it all go wrong than do some-
thing Im not fully convinced of and
later feel guilty about it. So now
when Im faced with a decision, in-
stead of asking, What do you guys
think? the first question I ask is,
Alicia, what do you think?
As told to Arianna Davis
IVE ALWAYS VALUED the input
of the people I love. So in the
past, whenever Id make a decisionwhat
to wear to an event, whether to pursue a job
opportunityId consult those closest to me,
like my mother, husband, or manager.
But there have been times (okay, many
times) when Ive let their advice drown out
my own instincts. While working on my last
album, for example, I was 100 percent sure
that a particular song should be the first sin-
gle. It had a fresh sound, and lyrics I knew
people would connect to. But by the time I
got feedback from everyone at my
label, all of whom thought we should
release a different single instead, I
felt completely unsure. I went with
their choice, but in the end, my gut
turned out to be right: The song we
released first didnt do what wed
A Matter of OpinionAlicia Keys
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