Karma (Alicia Keys song)

Last updated

"Karma"
Alicia Keys - Karma single cover.jpg
Single by Alicia Keys
from the album The Diary of Alicia Keys
ReleasedNovember 1, 2004 (2004-11-01)
Studio
  • KrucialKeys
  • Quad Recording (New York City, New York)
Genre
Length4:16
Label J
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Brothers, Jr.
Alicia Keys singles chronology
"My Boo"
(2004)
"Karma"
(2004)
"Unbreakable"
(2005)
Music video
"Karma" on YouTube

"Karma" is a song by American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys, taken from her second studio album, The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). Written by Keys, Kerry Brothers, Jr., and Taneisha Smith, the song takes influence from hip hop and classical music. It was released as the album's fourth and final single on November 1, 2004, by J Records. Peaking at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 17 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, it's the album's only single not to top a Billboard chart. A mashup of "Karma" with Stevie Wonder's 1972 hit "Superstition" titled "Karmastition", produced by Go Home Productions, was also released.

Contents

Composition

Sheet music for "Karma" sets the key of D minor at 100bpm. [1]

Content

In the song, the narrator's lover who had left her returns and wants to start a new relationship, but she has moved on. Her lover is now in the position she was once in, and in being rejected receives their just deserts ("what goes around comes around"). The title references the popular conception of karma as getting what one deserves.

Music video

The music video for "Karma", directed by Chris Robinson and Keys herself, was filmed over three days in August 2004, with parts shot in New York City and at Casa de Campo resort's Altos de Chavón amphitheatre, in La Romana, Dominican Republic. [2] At the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, the video earned Keys the award for Best R&B Video.

Track listings and formats

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [24]
certified in 2005
Gold500,000^
United States (RIAA) [25]
certified in 2020
Gold500,000

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)LabelRef.
United StatesNovember 1, 2004 J [26]
November 8, 2004 Rhythmic contemporary radio [27]
November 22, 2004Contemporary hit radio [28]
GermanyFebruary 7, 2005Sony BMG [11]

See also

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References

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