Alicia Keys - the Element of Freedom

Alicia Keys is back at it again with her fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom. She comes with a mix of her traditional seventies sound with some new material as well. Right now I'm feeling "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)", very smooth track with a nice mix of the old and new. Other tracks include "Doesn't Mean Anything" and of course, "Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart", which gives us a feel for some of the "boom bap" she has put on this record.

This record is the perfect synergy of Alicia Keys traditional sound, with progressive "post modern hip-hop" sounds. I say post hip-hop, as opposed to post pop-rap, because, in the spirit of everything Alicia Keys has done to date, the album has a knack for authenticity. She collaborated with Beyonce Knowles on "Put Me On A Love Song", which oddly enough, has Alicia Keys emulating Beyonce's antics, which sort of fails. If I wanted Beyonce's vocals I would buy one of her records.

Alicia Keys goes out on new territory and attempts something that sounds eerily familiar with some of the lesser known tracks off of Black Eyed Peas latest album with "This Bed", which has a strange, eighties Prince feel, which is not unlike one of her singles off her last album. She also comes with her own take on "Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down". The track is definitely her own, and not in the same vein of what she did with Jay-Z at all, but it is necessary. She already owned the first "Empire State Of Mind", and she isn't really doing much here but giving a different shell around the already familiar chorus which I'm sure some second grader is singing right now. I doubt anyone is feeling the lyrics off the first as much as they were her chorus, so the effort seems a bit repetitive.

This is yet another evolution in the sound of Alicia Keys, and she is bright enough to stay on top of her game to ward off anyone else who may have the bright idea to replicate what she has already done. As usual this is a unique contribution to both R&B, and in many ways, hip-hop, as Alicia pushes forward without sounding like a cheap replication of any of the hip-hop soul or neo-soul artists that may have paved the way for her.