Alicia Augello Cook, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After disputes with the label, she signed with J Records to release her debut studio album, Songs in A Minor (2001). Met with critical acclaim and commercial success, the album sold over 12 million copies worldwide and won five awards at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards. It contained the Billboard Hot 100-number one single "Fallin'." Her second album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003), was met with continued success, selling eight million units worldwide and spawning the singles "You Don't Know My Name", "If I Ain't Got You", and "Diary". Its release earned an additional four Grammy Awards.
American singer Alicia Keys has released nine studio albums, eight live albums, one remix album, six reissue albums, four extended plays, seven box sets, 47 singles as lead artist, and six promotional singles. Throughout her career, Keys has sold over 65 million records worldwide. According to Recording Industry Association of America, Keys is the top certified female R&B artist of the millennium, with 20 million certified albums and 38 million certified digital singles in the United States. Billboard ranked her as the second top female artist of the 2000s decade, fourth top R&B/hip-Hop female artist of the 2010s decade and the 60th Greatest Artist of all time.
"Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart" is a song by American recording artist Alicia Keys. It was released as the second single from her fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom (2009). The ballad has been hailed by many music critics as the best track from the album. It marks a departure in Keys' artistic production. This single was Keys' third consecutive top 10 hit from The Element of Freedom in the United Kingdom. It was also the 99th most successful song of the year 2010 in the Billboard Hot 100. A remix of the song features American Rapper, Maino.
Phiona Mutesi is a Ugandan chess player. She has represented Uganda at four Women's Chess Olympiads, and is one of the first titled female players in Ugandan chess history. Mutesi is the subject of a 2012 book and a 2016 film called Queen of Katwe.
"New Day" is a song by American recording artist Alicia Keys from her fifth studio album Girl on Fire (2012). Produced by Swizz Beatz and Dr. Dre, the song showcases a musical departure from the previous singles by the singer, with a more upbeat sound led by drums and percussion, as opposed to her classical R&B sound. On the song, Keys sings about "touching the sky and not letting chances go to waste". It received praise from music critics, who complimented the new musical direction, as well as criticizing the downgrade of Keys' "powerhouse voice" in favor of percussion. Rapper 50 Cent has a version of the song with one verse by Dr. Dre and the hook by Alicia Keys, also called "New Day". It was released as the second international single from the album and was officially sent to French radio stations on February 21, 2013.
"Girl on Fire" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her fifth studio album of the same name. Keys co-wrote and co-produced the R&B ballad with Jeff Bhasker and Salaam Remi. The song contains an interpolation of the drums from the 1980 song "The Big Beat" by American rock guitarist Billy Squier, who received a writing credit on "Girl on Fire". Released on September 4, 2012, as the lead single from the album, "Girl on Fire" is Keys' first release under RCA Records following the closure of J Records, after a reorganization at Sony Music Entertainment.
"Brand New Me" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her fifth studio album, Girl on Fire (2012). It was sent to radio by RCA Records on November 19, 2012, as the album's second official single. It was co-written by Keys and Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé. A follow-up to Keys' previous single "Girl on Fire", "Brand New Me" is a soft ballad, which Keys credits as her autobiography. Lyrically, the song is about personal growth and becoming a brand new version of yourself. It has been met with positive reviews. Keys has performed the song on several occasions including the iTunes Festival of 2012 and VH1 Storytellers.
"Almost Home" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It is the main track from the 2013 Walt Disney Pictures film Oz the Great and Powerful. Commissioned by Disney, Simone Porter, Justin Gray, and Lindsey Ray wrote the bulk of the record. When Carey signed on to sing the song, she and Stargate's Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen would later change it a bit and ultimately, complete it. On February 6, 2013, it was announced that Mariah Carey had recorded the song for the Disney film with production team Stargate, and that it would be released through digital download on February 19, 2013.
American recording artist Alicia Keys has appeared in numerous music videos. Her videography includes more than thirty music videos and three video albums. In 2000, Keys signed a recording contract with J Records and released her debut single "Fallin'", taken from her first studio album Songs in A minor (2001). The plot of its music video had Keys traveling to a prison to visit her incarcerated boyfriend and was continued in the video for her next single, "A Woman's Worth;" both videos marked Keys' first collaboration with director Chris Robinson, who would become a regular collaborator later. In 2004, another regular, American director Diane Martel, directed the accompanying music video for the second single from the singer's second album The Diary of Alicia Keys, "If I Ain't Got You", which featured rapper Method Man as Keys' love interest. It won the Best R&B Video accolade at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards.
Tim Crothers is an American author. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, writing for the school paper, The Daily Tar Heel. He was the former senior writer at Sports Illustrated. He has authored The Queen of Katwe, a book about the Ugandan junior woman chess master Phiona Mutesi. This book was selected by Dave Eggers for Best American Nonrequired Reading and favorably reviewed by The Washington Post.
Queen of Katwe is a 2016 American biographical sports drama film directed by Mira Nair and written by William Wheeler. Starring David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, and Madina Nalwanga, the film depicts the life of Phiona Mutesi, a girl living in Katwe, a slum of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. She learns to play chess and becomes a Woman Candidate Master after her victories at World Chess Olympiads.
"In Common" is a song by American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys from her sixth studio album, Here. The song was written by Keys, Illangelo, Billy Walsh and Taylor Parks, and produced by Illangelo. It is a departure from her R&B sound, having a tropical music and dancehall sound, with Latin beat, Afrobeat instrumental, collage of electronic beats, tropicalia-infused rhythms and icy drum patterns as its main instrumentation. Keys uses a hushed tone throughout the song.
Queen of Katwe (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2016 American film Queen of Katwe directed by Mira Nair. It was released by Walt Disney Records on September 23, 2016. The film, produced by Walt Disney Pictures and ESPN Films, stars David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong'o, and Madina Nalwanga, and depicts the life of Phiona Mutesi, a girl living in Katwe, Uganda, who learns to play chess and becomes a Woman Candidate Master after her victories at World Chess Olympiads. The film is based on inscripts from the ESPN magazine article and a book written by Tim Crothers, based on her life.
"The Star" is a song performed by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey. It was released on October 19, 2017, as the first release from the soundtrack of the film of the same name. The song was nominated for the Best Original Song at the 75th Golden Globe Awards.
Madina Nalwanga is a Ugandan actress known for her lead role as Phiona Mutesi in Queen of Katwe (2016). The film depicts the life of Mutesi, a Ugandan girl living in a slum in Katwe who learns to play chess and becomes a Woman Candidate Master. This role earned her the Most Promising Actor award at 2017 Africa Movie Academy Awards in Lagos, Nigeria. She also won an NAACP Image Award, a Women Film Critics Circle Award, and was nominated for a Critic's Choice Award.
"Show Me Love" is a song by American singers and songwriters Alicia Keys and Miguel. It was written by Keys, Miguel, Tory Lanez, and guitarist-producer Morgan Matthews, while production was handled by Keys and Matthews. The song was released on September 17, 2019 through RCA Records with UMPG as the lead single from Keys' seventh studio album Alicia. It is an R&B ballad involving feelings of desire. A remix version of the song featuring rapper 21 Savage was released on November 4, 2019.
"Perfect Way to Die" is a song by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys. It was written and produced by Keys and Sebastian Kole. The song was released on July 19, 2020, through RCA Records as the fifth single from Keys' seventh studio album Alicia (2020).
"Good Job" is a song by American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys. It was written by Keys, The-Dream, Swizz Beatz and Avery Chambliss and produced by Keys. The song was released through RCA Records on April 23, 2020, as the fourth single from Keys' seventh studio album Alicia (2020).
Robert Katende is a Ugandan chess coach, footballer, and engineer. He is also the executive director of Sports Outreach.
"Better You, Better Me" is a song by American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys. The song is featured in The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete, a film about two inner-city boys living on their own in New York City and directed by George Tillman, Jr and starring Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson and Anthony Mackie. The film features an original score from Keys and Mark Isham. The song was released through RCA Records as a single on October 11, 2013. Music videos for the song was released on the DVD release of the film.
