18 minutes ago, lonnie said:

This. Plus the fact that the music wasn't as good as it once was. 

 

The Swizz fiasco had little to do with it and was just coincidental with the decline.

Initially thought that…but people STILL talk about it.  
 

And given Alicia’s shtick is very spiritual, deep, etc…some ppl feel it’s phony given “what she did to Mashonda”.  <— putting in quotes, b/c I think ppl made a lot of assumptions + Mashonda made a lot of accusations while being hurt (understandably).  We don’t know what happened.  

But I feel like it at least contributed to her downfall, not that it’s the sole reason.  

Her first partner was her collaborator, when they separated the magic was gone.

when she discovered that she liked peen after all and would prioritize that above her reputation and career lol

 

but in all seriousness, maybe she's one of those artists that was meant to only be "popping" for a certain time period or era of music. She still has had quite a successful career with classic songs and albums to boot.

18 minutes ago, harwee said:

Her first partner was her collaborator, when they separated the magic was gone.

I'm guessing Swizz came along and shut Kerry Brothers out? I'm not a fan of the circumstances of which her and Kerry were "together" (he's 10 years older and met/started working with Keys when she was a child) nor am I a fan of the notion that a female artist must have a consistent male producer/songwriting partner for their music to be considered good but DAMMIT if those two didn't make magic together. Alicia has had songs here and there and maybe an album since that has been decent but nothing that she's recorded in the last decade or so knocks like her 00s work, especially those first couple of albums.

55 minutes ago, professor2000 said:

Initially thought that…but people STILL talk about it.  
 

And given Alicia’s shtick is very spiritual, deep, etc…some ppl feel it’s phony given “what she did to Mashonda”.  <— putting in quotes, b/c I think ppl made a lot of assumptions + Mashonda made a lot of accusations while being hurt (understandably).  We don’t know what happened.  

But I feel like it at least contributed to her downfall, not that it’s the sole reason.  

I really don't think a majority of the public knows about that scandal. While some of her fanbase might have been turned off by it, which would also hurt her I agree, the public just didn't respond to her later music as it did her earlier music because it wasn't anywhere as good.

38 minutes ago, Soda Pop Queen said:

I'm guessing Swizz came along and shut Kerry Brothers out? I'm not a fan of the circumstances of which her and Kerry were "together" (he's 10 years older and met/started working with Keys when she was a child) nor am I a fan of the notion that a female artist must have a consistent male producer/songwriting partner for their music to be considered good but DAMMIT if those two didn't make magic together. Alicia has had songs here and there and maybe an album since that has been decent but nothing that she's recorded in the last decade or so knocks like her 00s work, especially those first couple of albums.

 

Not to get into their relationships, but Kerry and Alicia together were a perfect match musically. They had chemistry in the studio. Kerry has more natural R&B sentiments, Beatz, not so much. All the controversy I think was just background noise. I’m happy they’re still together though.

Her career naturally declined?

 

Maybe she missed out on a comeback era but that's it

3 hours ago, Digitalism said:

Kinda this

And she couldn't transition into a more serious mature sound either so she didn't even have the critics

Really?  I would even dare say her first was her most mature one. And she unfortunately failed to replicate the absolute quality which was her first album, too. 

Nothing went wrong. Like, are you expecting a pure R&B artist to stay on top of the charts when the genre hasn't been popular for a decade or more? 

She has a good discography, and her shows are always packed (not to mention she's a great live performer). She's good. 

If you're talking about her output (quality wise), in every album (even Girl on Fire) you can find great tracks. Fire We Make, Show Me Love, Illusion of Bliss, Brand New Me... 

I do agree we should have Kerry Brothers back, they're a match made in heaven. 

Edited May 31, 20224 yr by OnlyRealMusic.

1 hour ago, lonnie said:

I really don't think a majority of the public knows about that scandal. While some of her fanbase might have been turned off by it, which would also hurt her I agree, the public just didn't respond to her later music as it did her earlier music because it wasn't anywhere as good.

Yeah, Mashonda isn’t some beloved or popular figure for people to turn against Alicia for lol. Most of the public doesn’t know about that scandal and if they do, they probably don’t care that much.

 

Plus, Alicia had been around for 10 years at that point. She was going to be declining regardless like most people, and I doubt her career would be much different if the affair hadn’t happened.

Edited May 31, 20224 yr by brainmaniac

5 hours ago, Squall said:

Talented but she became boring  

this

5 hours ago, GodControl said:

I don't know but let me go stream "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart." It's one of the best songs of all time.

It really is one of the best songs of all time.

Nothing went wrong. She's been in the industry for like 20 years already and R&B is not the hot trend anymore

 

And people who say she didn't evolve clearly haven't listened to In Common, Show Me Love, Time Machine, etc.

honestly her current music is just so bland and terrible and lifeless. idk how because she wrote a couple amazing singles in the 00s

1 hour ago, brainmaniac said:

Yeah, Mashonda isn’t some beloved or popular figure for people to turn against Alicia for lol. Most of the public doesn’t know about that scandal and if they do, they probably don’t care that much.

 

Plus, Alicia had been around for 10 years at that point. She was going to be declining regardless like most people, and I doubt her career would be much different if the affair hadn’t happened.

Lol!
 

True, but a lot of Black women identified with her story (or at least the parts the story the media portrayed).  
 

I don’t think it hurt Alicia in regards to mainstream media, but Black audience most definitely.  Mostly for shits and giggle though, but still…

 

Anytime Alicia is mentioned in black blogs…there’s at least one comment about it after all these years.    Like I said…it wasn’t the sole reason for her decline, but it definitely didn’t help.   

 

 

She was always a lil overrated to me but she had her image and following which she lowkey ruined when she got with Swizz. 

Heteronormativity. Her music was better when she was a stud. 

I LOVE Alicia but she needs a reinvention, much like Beyoncé did in 2013. Idk how, but she needs it.

 

Her latest music is good, but it just feels... there. People outside her fans don't bother to check it. There's no unique flavor to it. She needs something to stand out more.

The cheating/homewrecker labelling happened.

She was always in between being an album artist that fits into a certain genre (like Norah Jones)  with 1-2 more pop songs that would do good on the radio. A weird mix because 80% of ppl would fall for those pop singles and when they would dive deeper into the album, they would see that she was "boring" or too niche for them. That's why she doesn't have album tracks with strong numbers like pop girls, nor a legendary rnb status like Mary J. 

 

I like her and Element of freedom is my album to go

H.E.R. took her spot

 

i think after Girl on Fire she needed a reinvention or some sort to keep people interested (i guess) that she didn't do, but instead she followed it with her worst album (HERE) in 2016 (even though In Common is one of her best songs) i feel like if she followed the trend or do something fresh in 2015/2016 it would've done wonders, but oh well at least ALICIA and KEYS are two of her best work but KEYS had horrible singles, ALICIA was saved by Underdog (kinda) and So Done (which is her best single in YEARS) yet both still kinda flopped with lack of promo (that i know of) 

 

maybe if she collaborated with newer female R&B act like SZA, H.E.R. (especially since they share the same manager why haven't they collabed yet) or Summer Walker it might do something, the Khalid and Lucky Daye collab was something but the song sucks and they didn't even bother to really push it, same with the Snoh Aalegra collab from ALICIA which was one of the best song on the album

I LOVED Alicia Keys up until Girl On Fire. She completely lost me with that. Such faceless, generic radio fodder and she performed it everywhere. 

On 5/31/2022 at 3:57 PM, sugarysunflower said:

1. Her pursuit of a married man tainted her wholesome, good girl image off in a really bad way.

 

2. For the longest she was a purely R&B artist and didn't adapt to the music of the times (e.g. EDM, Trap, Indie Pop.... until she did Tropical House), so she would get pushed to the back on radio/digital campaigns, and RCA were prioritising their younger roster.

 

3. She never established a persona/great public appearance buzz (be it on the red carpet or being a great live performance artist), in the rising age of social media she shied away which in a way kind of hurt her, whereas other artists of the 2000s started to be more competitive to remain memorable and engaging with the public. 

 

On 5/31/2022 at 4:25 PM, RihFenty20 said:

 

Basically, she was the most prominent fad of the 00s R&B era. 

How was she a fad when she was huge for a whole decade. And she still scored hits after as well. 

She was also not always a pure RnB artist, As I Am is pop/Rnb, actually it was too pop for her audience (and I believe that's when she started declining). After No One, she released some pop songs : Sleeping With A Broken Heart for example, GOF etc. 

Only her first two albums were 100% RnB. And she hasn't been able to recreate the magic of those two albums because Kerry left for some reason. :

On 5/31/2022 at 6:18 PM, Keter said:

There was a shift with her after the second album where she wanted to get up from the piano and start crawling on it, trying to hit notes well outside her comfort zone. The public just could not abide the foolery. 

OK, I laughed. Even Prince looked at her funny at the BET. 

She has gotten worse and worse as a vocalist because she just refuses to sing in her range. 

 

She stopped doing big hooks. R&B isn’t the issue.