Keys to the Vault
The musician will perform her second album in full at New York’s Webster Hall next month to coincide with the release of its extended edition
The approaching 20th anniversary of The Diary of Alicia Keys had trudged up all kinds of nostalgia for Alicia Keys. December will mark two decades since she released her second album, and the musician is celebrating with a 24-track re-release titled The Diary of Alicia Keys 20 featuring the newly-surfaced song “Golden Child,” previously locked away in her personal vault.
In 2013, Keys launched the archival website AKVault, where she shared unreleased live performances, studio recordings, blog posts, behind-the-scenes videos, and more. “Golden Child” was originally shared in that medium and lived on through unofficial YouTube uploads when the site was eventually deactivated. “I wrote this song to pull myself up out of a slump I was in,” Keys had written about the song on the site. “Feelings of not going anywhere, fears of not being able to make it.”
After 20 years, the slump is likely a faint memory, but Keys has plans to head back to the place that informed The Diary of Alicia Keys the most: New York City. On Friday, Dec. 1, the night before the official anniversary date, the singer and songwriter will deliver a special performance of the entire record at Webster Hall.
Keys performed at the same 1,500-capacity venue in 2003 with AOL Broadband Rocks! — the name alone shows its age. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Keep a Child Alive. General sale for the show will begin on Friday, Nov. 3.
Four of the nine new additions to The Diary of Alicia Keys 20 are live performances that were captured at that 2003 show, including “If I Ain’t Got You,” “Diary” featuring Jermaine Paul, “You Don’t Know My Name,” and “Streets of New York.” The album will also include both the orchestral and the Spanish version of “If I Ain’t Got You,” recorded with Queen Charlotte’s Global Orchestra from the Netflix limited series Queen Charlotte. The two remaining additions are “You Don’t Know My Name/Will You Ever Know It (Reggae Mix)” and “Diary (featuring Tony! Toni! Toné! & Jermaine Paul) (Hani Mixshow).”