Alicia Keys is celebrating the upcoming 25th anniversary of her breakout single Traps.
The 17-time Grammy winner was speaking at the She Is the Music Women Sharing the Spotlight event in West Hollywood on February 18, when she shared that looking back on her younger self feels “crazy and amazing.”
“I’m not sure how to wrap my head around this whole existence called life,” Keys shared People. “It’s really crazy and wonderful and exciting and amazing.”
She recalled how she became famous early on through learning. “And when I think back to that girl inside me at that moment and how she had no idea, none. That she was all what you call ‘fake it till you make it’… that’s what she did, and she did a damn good job.”
Released in March 2001, when she was only 20, Traps became an instant success, spending six weeks at No. 1 and helping launch her debut album, Songs in A minor. The project earned her five Grammy wins in 2002, cementing her position as one of the defining voices of R&B at the time.
Keys said she now appreciates the determination and authenticity she carried early in her career.
“The more I grew, the more I learned,” Keys explained. “And so I think of her, and I’m so grateful to her because she was strong, she was clear. Even though she didn’t know everything, she knew what she didn’t want, and she knew what she had to hold on to, and that was authenticity and truth and honesty and music.”
She continued, “So I’m very proud because I recognize her in me today. So that’s a beautiful thing. So to be able to come all the way here and have all these years to create and not have even gotten to the smallest part of where I’m going is really exciting. So I’m grateful.”
“And [Gerson] said, “I know this girl is up to stuff,” before I even knew I was up to stuff. And so that’s the pure example of how you really create a path for someone, and so she did that for me. And now that we’re doing this together, that’s just the icing on the cake,” Keys added.
Reflecting on her journey, she said she is still excited about what lies ahead, adding that she has only just reached her full creative potential.
