Alicia Keys Interview with Melody "Freshhh"
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00:00I have the very, very honorable pleasure of talking to one of the biggest artists in the world, the greatest on the Keys, Ms. Alicia Keys, Mrs. Alicia Keys herself.
00:13Welcome to Detroit. I'm so excited that you're here today.
00:16Me too, Mommy. I'm so excited to be here. We're having so much fun on this Keys to the Summer Tour and I got to bring it to the D tonight.
00:24Yes, absolutely. First of all, let's back up. I'm Melody Fresh with 105.9 Kiss FM and I'm already, I've been a huge fan, but the city already, you know, we rock with you really heavy in Detroit.
00:37You were here last year and the show was absolutely amazing. There was like no standing room. I had to get somebody up off my left side.
00:44I'm like, back up, girl. Like it was absolutely packed. But who cares about it being packed if the performance isn't great?
00:51Your performance was absolutely amazing. And this is in a whole new venue. LCA is a brand new, not a brand new place, but it's your first time at LCA.
01:01And I heard you're bringing a 3D experience to the D tonight. Can you tell us about that?
01:06It's actually so good. Oh my gosh. I'm in love with this show. And I tell you, it's really exciting.
01:12I wanted to do something completely different. So it's a 360 show.
01:16So the stage is all the way in the entire middle of the arena floor. Wait till you see this stage. It's huge.
01:25Oh my gosh.
01:26So every chair and every seat ends up being around the stage. So I can touch every single person on every side of the building.
01:35And every seat is a front row seat. It's incredible. It's the first time I've ever done this before as an artist.
01:41It's the first time that you're going to see me like this. And I feel like you get to see just what you never saw visually, sonically is exceptional.
01:50You know, you're not going, you're not even going to know what to do with yourself. Like this one puts them in a frenzy. I gotta admit. It's incredible.
01:57Dope. Dope. Really dope. I'm excited.
02:00One of my highlights of the show last year, you had the four keyboards and you turned around. And I tell everybody that I'm like, she had these keyboards and she was turning and turning and turning.
02:10And so I'm already just excited about that from that experience to elevate to this giant 3D stage. That's going to be absolutely incredible.
02:17I can already, I'm just excited. I'm super excited.
02:21Me too. I know exactly what you're talking about because you're not. And that's kind of what inspired this show a little bit.
02:26I mean, it's, it's totally different. If you saw that show, this show is nothing like that show, but being able to go out into the audience.
02:34Cause that's what I did kind of halfway through. And I went to the middle of the audience and then that's when I brought all the key keyboards out.
02:40And it was kind of like this really like DJ AK kind of vibe that we did, which is so fun.
02:45Yes.
02:45But being able to be just in the middle like that brings so much energy. A lot of times I think people feel like, you know, there's no bad seat, but sometimes you feel like, man, I don't really have the best seat or I'm not going to see that well.
02:57And so doing that inspired me to do this June 60 show. And it's really, really good. I'm glad you were there. I love that part too.
03:04Yes. Not a bad seat in the house. Listen, cause inflation is real. Okay. Is it not?
03:09Right.
03:10So everybody can't get the, you know, $10,000 seat right in the front. So you being in the middle, that's really, really dope. It's going to make people feel super inclusive. I love to see that.
03:21So one thing about, you know, social media, one good thing, cause it's not, it's not, you know, it's not all good. It's not all bad. You get to see your favorite artists grow up. You know, a lot of us, we've been following your journey, you know, over two decades. You know what I mean? Like, so seeing your journey and seeing our favorite artists grow up means we get to see them get married, have children, the whole nine.
03:40So with you, you know, we've been watching your growth. You have kids now, you're a wife, you're a mom, your son plays the piano. Can you tell us about how he got started or how that even like, how that even came to be? Did you walk downstairs and he was, you know, doing some Mozart? Like, how did that even happen?
03:58For sure. Egypt, he's always loved, you know, he's like always been so interested when he was two, he was trying to jump on the drums on stage. He's kind of always been on tour too.
04:08When he, when he was four, he started to really show interest in the piano. And, you know, he actually took lessons with the same piano teacher that I took lessons with as a kid.
04:19Wow.
04:19And I called her and I was like, my son, he looked, you know, he seems like he's really interested in piano. Would you teach him? And she said, well, how old is he? He was four at the time. She's like, I don't know, Alicia. It's a little hot. Four is kind of young.
04:31And I was like, well, she said, let me meet him. And she met him. And he was just that focus and loving it that she was able to teach him. So he's been playing since four and obviously 12 now. And he's loving it. Like he's just a creative guy. He makes a good song. He writes stuff.
04:49If y'all remember when he was five, he produced a song on Kendrick Lamar's album. That was a big deal. This is the same kid. So he's definitely growing in all types of ways.
05:00And he practices hard though. You know what I mean? Nobody's just going to be good by just like doing nothing. You know what I mean?
05:06Exactly. He definitely puts his time in and I'm proud of him. He's doing great.
05:12We're proud of him also. That's amazing. Absolutely amazing. Thank you. I appreciate that.
05:16Some people just have it. You can't force it. You just, some people just get it. And he seems like one of those kids. He just has it. He gets it.
05:23He does. I think you're right. I think you're right.
05:25Now he's jumping on the drums. He's jumping on the piano. Now, are we looking for him? Everybody's loving, you know, Beyonce and Blue Ivy on stage right now.
05:32Are we looking for Egypt on this tour or any future tours or anything like that? Is that in his plans?
05:37I know. I'm loving seeing Blue on stage too. I was able to see her last night at the opening of Jay-Z being at the Brooklyn Library, like a whole recount of all his collection of music.
05:50And it's so sick. Lyrics on the front.
05:51To get a chance to go and catch it. It's amazing. But Blue was there and I was so happy to see her. And I said, how's it going? How you feeling on tour? She's like, it's good.
06:02And so I know that, you know, it's a lot. You know, it's a lot to do and a lot to keep up with. She's doing an amazing job.
06:10And for Egypt, you know, he does like to jump on the stage. The last tour that you were talking about, he would kind of once in a while jump on the stage.
06:17His first time was in Germany and he went out. It was about 17,000 people out there.
06:22And he put together a set and then his whole kind of anime, piano music. And they went crazy.
06:29So he and I asked him, like, Egypt, you wasn't nervous?
06:33And he was like, no, I'm good.
06:36He got it. He just got it. See what I'm saying? He got it.
06:40Wow.
06:40Some people would vomit at the idea, like 17 people.
06:44But you're throwing 17,000 in another country? Come on.
06:47Sheesh. I was like, you different, man.
06:49I'll tell you what, when I was 12, I was not doing that, okay?
06:54Oh, my gosh. So I'm super excited. You made it to the city.
06:58When you come to Motown, do you ever get a chance to check anything out?
07:03Do you have any time where, you know, you guys are able to stop by?
07:06You got to get some Coney Island or something, girl, while you're here.
07:09Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What's Coney Island? Talk to me.
07:12Coney Island is a Detroit staple. So they have, I mean, it sounds so simple, but it's just so good.
07:19We got these hot dogs. We got these loose burgers. We got the best fries.
07:23And all the Coney Islands are super competitive.
07:26We got to get somebody to roll you to a Coney Island because you got to get the Detroit.
07:29Right, right, right. I'm going to get the kids from Coney Island.
07:31But is it like Coney Island, like New York Coney Island?
07:34No.
07:35New York Coney Island. You sure?
07:38It's not the same.
07:39New York Coney Island is like the place you go, you ride all the rides and it's like, you know, it's like a staple, but this is food.
07:46This is right. So it's a staple, but it's just food. It's not like an amusement park or anything like that. No, no, no. It's just food.
07:53You got to get you some burgers. We're going to have to put together a package for you. Yes.
07:56We're just going to have to put it together for you and get you together.
07:59The kids will love that.
08:00Yes.
08:00I'm going to definitely tell them we got to get Coney Island for sure.
08:04Absolutely.
08:05So, okay. People loved you on TV, you know, when you were a judge. Are you actually still in contact with any of the artists from The Voice? Like, how was that experience? I know that, you know, you're off, you know, you've been off that, but it was still like a monumental thing.
08:18No, it was such a special time for me too. Like, I really was able to connect with young artists and up and coming artists and it felt so good to be able to give them some energy and some good information. And it was really a special time, I got to say. And I loved The Voice. I loved being a part of it. And all the artists that I touched, you know, especially the ones that really, you know, made it pretty far, I'm still in touch with. I still connect with from all the seasons I was on.
08:44I was actually saying that one of the artists was amazing. Her name is Vanessa Ferguson. I think she might've been from my first season, maybe second. She actually just got cast in a Broadway musical that I just announced called Hell's Kitchen. And she's one of the parts in it. And she was from The Voice.
09:02And a lot of times we look at each other and I tell her, I feel like I met her so that this time in our life would be the reason why we met. So she's amazing. And I feel so connected with those artists in that time in my life.
09:16Absolutely. That's really dope. You know, you're able to, you know, stay connected or reconnect and then work with people again. Those full circle moments are the best. Can you tell us more about Hell's Kitchen?
09:26Oh my gosh. Listen, Hell's Kitchen. Guys, I'm so excited. This has been 11 years in the making. I've been dreaming about this, working on it, writing it, creating it, finding the right people, finding the right team. You know, obviously everyone went through COVID and everything got halted and stopped.
09:47There's so much time been put into this piece. You are going to love it so much. It is about a 17-year-old girl named Allie. You find her in her 17th year. She's really struggling with trying to exercise her independence, figure out her identity, find out who she is and how she fits in the world. You're going to see yourself in it. It's her whole community of Hell's Kitchen and all their stories.
10:11Each person is represented by a different artist. Like the mother is, the artist of inspiration is Tina Marie.
10:18Wow.
10:19The father, the artist of inspiration is like Sammy Davis.
10:23You're going to see so many, the best friends, their inspiration is like En Vogue meets TLC. Like wait till you hear this music. Wait till you see this story. It's so powerful and it moves. You can't help but be moved.
10:36So it opens off Broadway at the public on November 19th and then we're going to transfer it to Broadway, you know, in 2024. So this is, I mean, this is a moment. I'm so excited.
10:46Yes. It sounds absolutely amazing. I'm so excited to see how this all plays out. Definitely have to check that out when it comes to the city. Oh my gosh. That's going to be so amazing.
10:55All right. Well, we are almost done here, but I have to ask a silly question. Have you, have you seen Little Mama lately? Have you, have you seen her?
11:03You know, funny thing. I did. I did. I saw her at, I saw her at Tiana, Tiana Taylor just did most beautiful movie with one of the filmmakers that I worked with on the gospel, a short film that I did for one of my albums called Here.
11:20And it's called A Thousand Sons, this movie, like, yo, you got to see this film. It is spectacular. It debuted in Harlem. And so I pulled up so I could see Tiana and just give love to the family and everybody who was a part of it. And, and Little Mama was there. And so I got a chance to say this up and see her. And look, this has been so long.
11:40There's nothing but love there. Like way, way, way, way, way. It's a whole new time. And obviously she's amazing. And I actually am super cool with her brother as well. And I didn't even realize her brother was her brother for some time. And she's an amazing young man, artist, you know, part of this whole crew in New York called Light Feet. And so, yeah, we connect. We see each other. It's a good vibe.
12:02Good. Absolutely good. Well, you heard it here first. Alicia Keys is bringing some brand new fresh energy to the city tonight. LCA is the Keys to the Summer Tour. If you need those last minute tickets, you can go to 313presents.com. LCA is going to be on fire tonight, for lack of a better term.
12:22It is going to be amazing.
12:23See, that's the truth. Just telling you.
12:27You heard it here first. She is bringing some new flavor to the city and it is going to top her last show. And if she can top her last show, baby, you are sold. You got me sold. I can't wait. I'm bringing my mom out tonight to see you. We are going to have her time.
12:41Need you to be there.
12:42Yes.
12:43Yes. Let's do this. And listen, you need to put sneakers on your feet. I'm telling all the ladies, put sneakers on your feet because this show is going to keep you standing.
12:51You're not going to be sitting down and be able to make sure your feet are good. You can't have swollen feet and hurting and everything. Bring the slippers in your bag.
12:59Bring the sneakers in your bag. You get ready. Get ready for this.
13:03I'm ready. I'm coming in Jordan 1s. We are ready. We are excited. Thank you so much, Alicia. I'm so excited. Thank you for spending time with us. It's 105.9 KISS FM. I'm Melody Fresh and we will see you tonight.
13:17See you, baby. Talk to you later.
13:18We'll see you later.