Keys left Columbia in early 1999 to sign with Clive Davis at Arista Records and later his new label, J Records, where she could pilot her own vision. The label was, of course, laughably wrong. Columbia execs told her it sounded like one long demo.

Keys found the recording process crushing and chose instead to partner with producer Kerry “Krucial” Brothers to create a dexterous blend of classical music and soul that merged young-adult melodrama with Beethoven. The label had already brought in big-name producers to strip away the retro-soul sound that separated artists like Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, Maxwell, Jill Scott, and Keys from the stream of sex-driven R&B in the late-’90s. I wish I could get this signed but at least the vinyl is here.“They wanted me, the tomboy from Hell’s Kitchen, to become the next teen pop idol,” Keys wrote in her memoir.

I will be purchasing this vinyl and I will play the hell out of it. Through your music, I learned to love hard, to be kind, real, to treat women, to dig deep. I’m just thankful God put this music in your heart because it changed everything for me. I could go on and on about how much this album and era meant to me. I know have a tattoo that says RISE on my neck in homage to her. Caged Bird was my introduction to Maya Angelou as well. I honestly don’t have a least favorite song but I loved Troubles, The Life, Butterflyz, Never Felt This Way, Lovin’ U and Caged Bird. Times were hard and your album helped me put a lot of conflicting emotions in perspective. One day my brother had a meltdown one day and literally slammed it on the concrete in broad daylight LOL.So what did I do? Hustled and bought another copy. Man, I played this album so much that the cassette distorted, LOL. I knew I that I would listen to this album forever. The lyrics, productions, dialogue honestly made this an instant classic. I knew you would deliver because Fallin literally shifted the entire R&B landscape… but when I played this album… even at a young age I knew that you were so gifted. It feels just like yesterday 12-year-old me was hustling folks for a dollar so I could be buy this cassette tape at our local record store.

It’s hard to believe 20 years has passed. Yooo! I’m shook and so happy that you still take such pride in this masterpiece of an album that changed so many lives. Alicia, you read my mind! It’s hard trying to find SIAM on vinyl and I was just thinking how dope it would be for you to re-release this on vinyl with GREEN pressings (similar to the pattern behind the jewel case on SIAM).

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