Best Seat in the House

Watch Alicia Keys' cover shoot video

Spend some time with Alicia Keys, and you just feel good. Not like trailer-for-Garfield 2 “I Feel Good” good but red-wine-and-kush good. Calm good. It’s a sense of serenity that belies her popstar schedule. Since Keys started supplementing her day job as a strikingly beautiful chanteuse with a burgeoning acting career, knocking down roles in Smokin’ Aces (by the way, a quick thank you to the Aces costume designer) and The Nanny Diaries, things have been a little busy.  We caught up with her to talk about her career, how far she’s come since rolling with Heathcliff Huxtable (she looked all grown up in Smokin’ Aces but she got her start chilling on the Cosby Show)and the release of her third album As I Am, dropping November 13th.  Check out a few excerpts from her interview:

On dealing with the pressures of fame:
I’m not the chick that breaks down, I’m not the one who loses it and wilds out, that’s not my thing.

On finding herself on top of an Egyptian tomb:
I needed to get out of town and clear my head, I went to Egypt. It was such a miraculous experience for me. I crawled to the top of the pyramid and I just sang at the top of my lungs right there. People walking in acted like I was crazy; I didn’t care. When I came home, I wanted to abandon all the tat stuff about me feeling too vulnerable to collaborate with people. Forget that.

On her idea of a good date:
I like to do things just because the thought came in your mind. I like to maybe go to the planetarium, crazy late at night. I love when a dude is cool with going to the museum with me, especially if it’s an interesting exhibit. I’m not just trying to go see dead white people. [Laughs]

 By Andrew Simon
Photographs by Randall Slavin