J Records
Urban Contemporary, 2001

Ooh, I love it whenever I have something new to play on my CD player again and again. Alicia Keys’s debut effort Songs in A Minor is just the thing to lift me out of my pop music doldrums. Smooth, chocolaty, and pure soul that sends tingles up my spine, this CD makes my day. And she’s only 20?

From the chilling Piano & I to the splendid Fallin’ to the delicious and sexy cover of Prince’s How Come You Don’t Call Me, it’s smooth loving time. My favorite is Girlfriend which is just great on the ears, as Ms Keys’s soulful voice gets catty and dreamy all at once as she bitches about this guy’s good female buddy.

Songs in A Minor is filled with the usual girl/boy stuff, but there is nothing girly or juvenile about the music. Just sublime.