Photographed by Ramon Rivas.
2019 was a prophetic year with women at the foreground--Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, and Billie Eilish to Yola to name a few. [Alicia Keys](https://www.instagram.com/aliciakeys/), American Express and Billboard’s priority is celebrating the women whose exhilarating achievements paved the way for other women looking to carve their own impact in the industry. Core progression in the music industry is brought upon by its many female professionals that are constantly delivering fresh perspectives, milestones, and entrepreneurial spirit.
Alicia Keys shared her own knowledge and wisdom by offering a mentorship to the many female songwriters and producers invited to the Songwriters Camp at Record Plant hosted by American Express as well as in partnership with Key’s own organization, [She Is The Music](https://sheisthemusic.org). The attendees which include MoZella, LIIV, Ingrid Andress, TOKiMONSTA, and Kirby Lauryen were able to collaborate in a studio session with Keys herself.
Keys contributed her own personal narratives and philosophies about determination and pursuit on December 13th prior to her acceptance of the American Express Impact Award at the Billboard Women in Music Awards.
**It’s been just a year since you announced She is The Music. And it is a huge impact. Such an impact that you are getting the award from American Express, the Impact Award.**
Thank you so much.
**How do you think that will propel everything going forward? Do you think it’s going to elevate, give you more opportunities?**
The award itself?
**The association with American Express getting involved with us as well.**
You know one of the things that is feeling really good and just for clarity, what She Is The Music is, is really a beautiful initiative that creates a community where women, creative people can really have access to more opportunities. So that’s women songwriters, producers, engineers, executives. You know people who are in the industry that are lighting designers, creative directors, sound engineers. You know business managers, lawyers. How do you create a community where all these incredible women who are already so smart and so successful on their own start to have even more opportunities and create opportunities not only for each other but other young women that are…
Photographed by Ramon Rivas.
**The next generation.**
Yes, exactly. And so, I’m really excited for what that means and I think that what that does mean is that we are able to approach more consciously how we are engaging with women and how we want to make sure that we are creating opportunities. So, if that is an AmEx or if that’s a small, up and coming business, there is this beautiful opportunity when you have the chance to hire people or to open doors for people. If we consciously look at the equality of it and want to make sure there’s a balance between the two, between who we are hiring, between men and women, I think that’s a really empowering place to operate from. And so, I think this is something we can all do. We can all consciously think about how we are engaging and creating the world we want to live in.
**In one year you have done 12 camps already. Mary J. Blige, Bebe Rexha, some huge artists. I mean that must make you so proud to see how big its growing.**
I am.
**And today 12 different artists.**
I am excited and I am proud. I am here talking about it today, but it’s something that I completely helped to create but it’s not my thing, it’s our things. You know what I mean. It’s all of our things. It’s men’s things. It’s women things. It’s everyone who is apart of She Is The Music. It’s those who are becoming apart of She Is the Music. I think that’s what is so cool about it. It’s not just one person’s victory. It’s like all of our victories and we all get to share in it and in the excitement of what comes when we can create these moments and create these opportunities. And I am super super super super proud that is just a year there have already been twelve camps. When we first started obviously the database was like an idea, a dream. Now it is the biggest database for female creatives and business people across the music industry and I think I am also so thrilled about the mentorship idea. Even just talking about it just today, I’ve been realizing how does one start to become the next great sound engineer. How does one start to become the next lighting designer? How does one actually have the opportunity to learn about it to learn that it even exists to learn that this could be something that can be a job for you?
**It’s really what a great guidance counselor tells you.**
Yeah, it is. Especially there are so many of us that love music. Music is our heartbeat and we know we want to be a part of it. But, maybe we don’t all sing and maybe we don’t all necessarily produce. There are other ways in and I think that is very powerful. So, I am proud that these initiatives that will create a change are off the ground and are happening. It feels really good.
**It was so funny because before they pulled me in and asked me to do this and the day before I was just in bed listening to ”Like You’ll Never See Me Again”. It is crazy.**
You were like this is weird.
**You have drawn a lot of inspiration from Prince and everything, but through your career you have also completely demonstrated a capacity for affecting a certain generation. How do you see your career as a writer affecting this new generation of musicians and songwriters?**
You know, I think that is pretty powerful and I think that one of the most amazing things about being a songwriter, about being a producer, about being a woman who has created my own sound and own vision it is that in especially in the song writing side is that element of what music is, which is so intangible but is so powerful for us. Music is like air. I truly truly believe that probably all of us in the planet in some capacity could not imagine living without music. That would be such very drab, sad place. And it is the most ancient way of expression and worship and joy and survival and all of these things. And to be able to put that into words and create sounds for that and to create something that people can relate to and identify with is the biggest honor, like seriously the biggest honor. It is such a beautiful thing, like on Monday I was just with Billie Eilish. I was hosting the James Corden show for just one night and she came on the show with me. And I actually covered one of her songs called “Ocean Eyes.”
**That’s actually one of our questions.**
I’ll lead you right there. And she covered one of my songs, “Fallen.” I didn’t even know she covered my song, “Fallen.” And she was kind of shocked at the whole thing, which I understand. I am always so amazed how people bring music together. And she was so shocked with the whole thing. She was like, ‘You have been such a big influence on my life. And like here you are and here we are. And we are like sing together. What’s happening?’ And I distinctly remember that same feeling in so many ways. I felt so honored to be somebody for her that she’s you know, grown up on and started to craft her song writing skills that she’s performed my songs and for me to feel that same way about her songs. When you say what does that mean, and that affect on how it becomes a love fest exchange. It’s amazing; it’s like Nina Simone, or Aretha Franklin or even Mary J. Blige or Lauryn Hill. It’s like all of those women that have given me something that I have taken and done my own thing with and I get to bare witness to how the cycle continues and so it’s really really really powerful and stunning, shocking and you know exciting.
**You pretty much answered all the questions I was going to ask you, but who do you feel like you have sort of a kinship with in younger generations, but also in the past. Like Nina Simone is a very strong influence on a lot of women musician, like the spirit of songs that come from singer songwriters. Who else do you feel really touched by?**
I’ve been touched by so many people I definitely been touched by like I said I would say Aretha Franklin obviously, another songwriter and pianist, composer, arranger. I’ve been touched by Patrice Rushen, who is another pianist, singer / songwriter, creator of her own music. I think people like Ethan and Stephanie Mills is like so powerful. I mentioned Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill for sure. And then bringing it forward, I like Billie. I like what Lizzo is up to. I love SZA. I think that there are so many cool people who are doing just interesting sonics and unique individual ways of expression. And I’m excited about it. I’m excited about where music is. I feel like it is really becoming so much more of an individual expression where maybe at some point it started to feel if you didn’t look exactly like everybody else and you didn’t do what everybody else did you didn’t have a shot. And now, the more unique and individual that you are the more excitement and attention you get. And I personally feel like that’s the way. You know we want diversity and interesting and refreshing and different things. So yeah, it’s been a really fun time I think.
Photographed by Ramon Rivas.
**For the last two days, you had these 12 up and coming and established songwriters and musicians working with you and can you tell us a little bit about the experience because they are really working and making music that will hopefully be recorded for artists like you. How is that process been as a mentor?**
I think that it’s really cool. I think it’s really amazing. The first thing that sticks out to me is that the way that the stories that they’ll share with me is so powerful, like one artist was telling me her experience working with women hadn’t necessarily been positive prior The She Is the Music camps. I thought that was really cool because now she can kind of redefine what it means to write with women. And you never know what the first experience is or a certain experience is what they create. And it is not guaranteed to be flawless to be fluid or a perfect mix, like with anything. So I think that is wonderful or you know a particular engineer that was here said that she only had like a three or four other women engineers to even reference. And now she is starting to see more people who are more interested in audio engineering and what does it mean that more women are. And she is excited to see the expansion on it. So that’s really cool too. And just seeing how much more the kindred energy is and the spirit between the women that are here and how they feel protected. They feel great, they feel empowered. I think what is so amazing is you can see there is a sense of community. You know, where do you meet your favorite people on planet earth? Sometimes I think we all are asking ourselves that, like how do I find people who are similar. Like are we going to find them at the gym, or at the grocery store. Or are we going to find them like at the club? Some people yes. Sometimes I’m like ‘yeah, I ran into them while I was shopping and like we started a conversation and we’ve been besties ever since.’ Maybe, but rarely. So I think a lot of times we are all looking for that deep connection. Sometimes it is difficult to foster it or have the opportunity to find it and I feel like She Is The Women camps create that. You find people that you are connected with and have similar stories with or similar experiences an then on top of that as creative people having an outlet and opportunity to write some powerful things that make their way into my hands or other artists hands and become a part of the zeitgeist. That is the goal as well. I think that there is this beautiful multilayered tier experience that happens so you feel the excitement, you feel the good energy. You feel the excitement, nervousness because I think anytime you come into a room of people you may or may not know that well you feel a little what’s going to happen here.
**And for some of them their idols as well.**
It’s a big thing. It’s a scary thing sometimes. But overall I think it’s a really positive feeling and experience and everybody is excited.
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Interviewed by [BJ Panda Bear](https://www.instagram.com/bjpandabear/?hl=en) and [Rhiyen Sharp](https://www.instagram.com/rhisharp/?hl=en).
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