Celebrate Alicia Keys’s Newest Album by Watching Her 7 Best Music Videos, Ranked
When Alicia Keys first burst onto the music scene in 2001 with her badass braids and grand piano, her unique mélange of classic soul, R&B, and jazz made for instant chart-toppers. Now, the singer is back (and dare we say, better than ever?) with her sixth album, Here, out today from RCA Records. In honor of the release, we took a walk down memory lane and compiled Keys’s best music videos to date, then ranked them in order of importance. Without further ado, here are the top seven. Prepare to experience pangs of nostalgia.
7. “Un-thinkable (I’m Ready)”
Aughts-era heartthrob Chad Michael Murray plays Keys’s unrequited lover in this 2009 video, which makes it a must-watch. If that’s not enough to sell you, the song was also co-written and originally recorded by Drake.
6. “A Woman’s Worth”
This soulful follow-up to “Fallin’” gives a nod to the singer’s breakout hit before she launches into the second piano-driven single off her debut album, Songs in A Minor, with reckless abandon.
5. “If I Ain’t Got You”
“If I Ain’t Got You” stars Method Man as Keys’s love interest, who she tries to keep from getting thrown in jail. But we have to give him props for helping carry her grand piano to the roof of their apartment building—that is no easy feat.
4. “No One”
Keys’s uplifting ballad was awarded Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 2008 Grammy Awards, and the music video makes us want to sing in the rain surrounded by an entourage of random strangers.
3. “Fallin’”
Our first introduction to Keys was this 2001 breakout hit, and the corresponding video commented her status as an artist to watch very (very) closely. We have yet to see someone play the piano quite so intensely.
2. “You Don’t Know My Name”
Keys plays a diner waitress crushing on her now-husband, Kasseem Dean, aka Swizz Beatz, in this video, and the cuteness is palpable.
1. “Girl on Fire”
Rocking a skin-baring crop top and running the show at home, Keys is the epitome of a self-confident woman in this video.
Hero is out today, Nov. 4, and available on iTunes and Amazon.