Age: 22
Nationality: America
Occupation: Soul-bearing singer（灵歌歌手）
Awards: Won the Grammy for Song of the Year for her single “Fallin'” （藉单曲“坠落”获本届格莱美年度歌曲奖）；took four Grammys, two Billboard Music Awards.
Her Word: “I think women are the most courageous people, they always get through any situation.” (我认为女人是最勇敢的，任何难关都能闯过。)
I． Brief Biography
Since the tender age of 5, Alicia Keys has proven herself a true musical prodigy1. Born and raised in Manhattan, New York, a great deal of her upbringing2 was devoted to music. Piano lessons beginning at such an early age allowed Alicia to blossom3 into the exceptionally talented pianist she is today.
She credits4 much of her success to her mother's insistence on her continuing with the lessons, and finally growing as an artist. Her mother advised her that piano-playing was the one thing in life that she would not allow her daughter to give up. While many children may consider this to be a form of punishment, Alicia thought differently. Piano-playing became one of her true passions5 in life and she pursued6 it. She enrolled in the Professional Performance Arts School of Manhattan and chose to major in choir7. An all-around outstanding student, her musical talents grew to an even higher level under the guidance of one of her instructors. This instructor helped to train her voice, enabling Alicia to further grow as a multi-talented8 musician.
At the age of 16, Alicia's outstanding academic grades allowed her to finish high school early. Columbia University accepted her immediately after her graduation, but she was intent on pursuing her love of music instead. In 1998, major record labels9 began discovering her. She signed with Arista Records. At this point, she continued the process of writing, producing and recording the debut that she'd been working on since the age of 14.
In late 1999,Alicia decided to join Clive Davis and his new-found record label, J Records. Davis has supported and groomed10 many famous artists in the past, including Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen and Santana. Keys saw this as an opportunity to grow, and Davis has been hyping11 her ever since.
Recently, the 19-year-old musician's debut album, Songs in A Minor entered the Billboard album charts at #1. The album includes the hit single Fallin'.
The near future looks to be very promising for this hot, young, musical talent. Her next single, A Woman＇s Worth is scheduled12 for release very shortly. If it follows in the footsteps of her debut release, it will most likely prove to be a chart-topper13.
I．个人小传
还在艾莉西亚·凯斯五岁的时候，这个稚气未退的小娃娃就已经证明自己是一个真正的音乐神童。从小生长于纽约曼哈顿的她一直深受音乐的熏陶，很小就开始上钢琴课，使得她今天成了才华出众的钢琴家。
她认为自己的成功在很大程度上归功于她母亲，是母亲坚持要她把钢琴练下去，最终成为艺术家。母亲跟她说绝不允许她放弃练琴。也许很多孩子会把这种枯燥的钢琴练习当作一种处罚，但艾莉西亚不同，她把弹钢琴当作了生活中的至爱而追求。她进了纽约职业表演艺术学校，主修合声。作为一个全面发展的优秀学生，她的音乐才能在一位导师的指导下提升到了一个更高的水准。那位导师还帮艾莉西亚进行声乐训练，使得她进一步成长为一位音乐全才。
由于成绩优异，艾莉西亚16岁便提前从高中毕业。她刚毕业就被哥伦比亚大学看中，但她决心追求她的音乐之爱。1998年，各大音乐制作商已经开始注意她了。她与阿瑞斯塔唱片公司签了约。这期间，艾莉西亚继续创作、制作和录制她那张从14起就开始准备的处女作专辑。
1999年下半年，艾莉西亚决定加盟克里夫·戴维斯的新公司——J 唱片公司。克里夫·戴维斯过去曾支持和培养了众多的明星，包括珍妮丝·贾普林、布鲁斯·史宾斯汀和桑塔纳。凯斯认为这是一个发展的好机会，而戴维斯自此一直大张旗鼓极力把她捧红。
最近这位19岁的音乐人首张个人专辑《小音阶A键之歌》位居音乐排行榜榜首。她的主打单曲《坠落》就在这张专辑里。
这位红极一时的青年音乐天才看来前途无量。她的下一首单曲《一个女人的价值》即将闪亮登场。如果按照她第一张个人专辑那样发行的话，这首新歌极有可能登上音乐排行榜榜首。
II． Extracts from her talk
A recent interview Alicia had on TV may help readers to understand why Alicia is special and how she's grown. Here are parts of it:
Q:Why did you name your album Songs in A Minor?
A: A minor is one of my all-time favorite keys to play in. It's a very moody14 key, and also A is the first letter of my name. It just represents the songs through my eyes.
Q: Your first single Fallin＇ is very powerful． Where did that song come from?
A: I think there's something and someone behind every song. Something makes you sing it, something makes you feel to write it. I love my mother to death, but there are times I wish she would leave me alone. I think that's definitely an emotion that naturally happens when you really, really care about somebody, even if it's just your mother.
Q: You＇re a classically trained pianist, and I read that at the age of 11 you had a lot of things going on． Your mom said, “You can do this, you can do that, but you can＇t quit the piano．” Are you glad she said that?
A: Oh, sure. I'm kind of feeling15 mom for saying that. When you're 11, 12, you're just getting into hanging out16, maybe flirting17 a little bit. You're trying to do some real undisciplined18 things, and I was actually doing a lot at the time: dancing, school, piano. I just couldn't get enough time to hang out at the park, so it was like, “Mom, I sure would like to hang out at the park a little more.” She understood that I needed that too, but she realized that this was something that I really loved. She said, “Stick with it.” She was always adamant about me sticking to something I had started. I'm happy I stuck to it.
Q: There＇s a lot of artists these days who don＇t write and produce their songs． But on your album you wrote, produced and arranged almost every note． What does it mean to you to be able to do that?
A: It's imperative19 for me to do that. In the beginning of the whole process of doing a record, I tried to work with outside producers. It was definitely an experience in ... taking away something from it, learning what I didn't like. I always realized that it just worked best when I was completely involved in it. It made it exactly how I heard it in my head.
Q: You managed to use your formal training and integrate hip－hop into your style． I don＇t think anyone has done it exactly that way．
A: It's just a natural occurrence20. There's a lot of different styles of music that inspire me. ... I like to write and sing and play music when it's of the moment21. To this day, I play Beethoven and Bach and Chopin, as well as Marvin Gaye, Roberta Flack, and Nina Simone.
Q: What should people expect from an Alicia Keys show?
A: Definitely an exchange. That's what it is for me. That's when it's at its best. When I can get people to shout something to me from the audience, because I talk a lot, especially on stage... You definitely will see me behind the piano 99 percent of the time. But I get up, do my little thing and make sure you're doing your thing.
Q: A lot of attention you＇ve gotten recently is based on that fact that you＇re so young, but so vocally mature for your age． Do you feel that way?
A: No, not really. I think that a lot of people at my age go through things that are serious enough to be truly felt. It's funny that you say that, because when I went to a couple of radio stations in the beginning, I'd walk into room and they'd be like, “You're Alicia Keys? I thought you were going to be about 300 pounds22.” I said, “That ain't right, man.” But I take that as something that's good. That's a beautiful thing, but songs don't really see an age. Feelings have nothing to do with an age.
II 谈话摘录
艾莉西亚最近的一次电视访谈有助于读者了解她的特殊之处及其成长历程。以下是谈话片段：
问: 你为什么把你的歌碟命名为《小音阶A键之歌》?
答: 小音阶A键一直是我最爱弹的键之一。 这是个适合表达各种情感的琴键，而A同时也是我名字的第一个字母。这个碟子代表了经由我的双眼所看见的音乐世界。
问: 你的第一首单曲《坠落》非常强劲有力。它是怎样诞生的？
答: 我想每一首歌都是由某个人或某件事引发出来的。这件事使你歌唱，使你产生把它写出来的念头。我爱我母亲爱得要死，但有时候我真希望她别管我的闲事。我想，当你真的很在乎一个人，即使这人就是你的母亲时，这种情感也会自然而然地产生。
问: 你是古典音乐训练出来的钢琴家。我读到的材料说你11岁时曾经在许多事情上分心。你妈妈对你说：“你可以干这，可以干那，但绝不可以放弃钢琴。”她这样说你高兴吗？
答: 噢，当然。我能够体会妈妈为什么那样说。人在十一二岁的时候就开始喜欢到外面晃荡，调调情什么的。这个时候人就想干些不合规矩的名堂，我那个时候事情很多：跳舞、上学、弹钢琴。我根本没有足够的时间到公园里闲逛，我有时候就这么说“我想到公园里多玩一会儿。”她明白这也是我所需要的，但她认识到钢琴才是我真正喜欢的。她就说“坚持练琴”。一件事情只要是我开了头，她总会坚持要求我做到底。我很高兴我坚持下来了。
问: 现在有很多艺人既不创作也不参与歌曲制作。但是你的专辑里，几乎每一个音符都是你自己创作、制作和编排的。你能这样做意味着什么？
答: 这对我来说是势在必行。在开始录制唱片时，我努力与外人合作搞制作。那绝对是一份难得的经历……从中淡化某些东西，学会某些东西——虽然这些东西我不喜欢。我认识到只有当我全方位投入时，效果才最好，才能把我脑海里的东西准确地表达出来。
问: 你全力发挥自己所受的正规训练，将hip-hop融入自己的风格。我认为以前没有人这么做过。
答: 这就是水到渠成。我受到过各种音乐风格的启迪。我喜欢即兴似地写歌词、演唱和弹奏音乐。直到如今，我还是经常弹奏贝多芬、巴赫、肖邦的曲子，也演奏马文·盖伊、罗伯特·弗拉克和尼娜·西蒙娜的曲子 。
问:从艾莉西亚·凯斯的演唱会中人们能获得什么？
答: 当然是交流。对我也是这样。搞得最成功的时候就有交流，就是当我鼓动得观众从人群中向我呼喊的时候，因为我讲话很多，尤其是在舞台上时……当然百分之九十九的时间你会看到我坐在钢琴后面。但我会站起身来，使出我的招数，好让你也把自己表现出来。
问: 你最近十分引人注目是由于你很年轻，但是就你的年龄而言，声音却很成熟。你有没有同感？
答: 没有。真的没有。我想我这个年龄的很多人都会经历那些严肃得足以让人产生真切感受的事情。你这样说挺有意思，因为我原先去好几家无线电台时，我走进屋子，他们就说，“你就是艾莉西亚·凯斯？我以为你有三百磅呢。” 我说，“伙计，你错了。”不过我把这个当作一件好事情来看。那挺有趣的。不过歌曲并不显年龄。感情与年龄大小无关。
1. prodigy n．惊人的事物, 天才(特指神童)
2． upbringing n．这是由动词词组“bring up”变形而来的名词，意为“教养，抚育”
3． blossom v．本意为“开花”，此处表示“成长，成熟”。
4． credit v．相信，把……归给；词组credit sth to sb意为“将……归功于……
5． passion n． 激情, 热情
6． pursue v． 追赶, 继续, 从事
7． choir n．唱诗班, 合唱团
8． multi－talented：多才多艺的。“multi－”意为“多的，多样的”
9． label n．标签，唱片公司
10． groom [grum] v．推荐, 整饰, (此处)训练，培养
11． hype [haip] v．大肆宣传,大做广告
12． schedule v．确定时间，安排
13． chart－topper 居于榜首的人／歌曲
14． moody adj． 喜怒无常的;（此处）情感丰富的，情感富于变化的
15． I＇m kind of feeling mom ＝ To some degree I feel the same way as mom； kind of ＝ a little
16． hang out：（俚语）闲逛，厮混
17． flirt v． 调情, 玩弄
18． undisciplined adj．不遵守纪律的，不服管教的
19． imperative adj． 命令的，必要的
20． occurrence n． 发生, 出现, 事件
21． of the moment 此刻, 当前，（此处）即兴地
22． I thought you were going to be about 300 pounds：我以为你有三百磅呢。也就是说以为她是个发育完全、体形庞大的成年人。