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Alicia Keysâs new musical is opening in a Broadway theatre about a ten-minute walk from where she grew up, and sheâs given the show the name of that neighborhood: âHellâs Kitchen.â It incorporates her songs to tell a story about a teen-ager named Ali who is growing up and finding her love of music, and it is even set in the apartment building where Keys was raised. Yet she is adamant that the show is not autobiographical, âbecause a lot of people think âautobiographicalâ and they think quite literally.â In casting the role of Ali, a young woman very much like herself, Keys was looking for a âtriple-threatâ performer who also had âthe energy of a true New Yorker . . . Thatâs the hardest part, because you canât teach that.â Plus, a conversation with the musician Rhiannon Giddens, who plays banjo on Beyoncéâs No. 1 country hit, âTexas Hold âEm.â Giddensâs music has long explored the Black roots of country music, and the furthest reaches of the African diaspora.
Alicia Keys Returns to Her Roots with Her New Musical, âHellâs Kitchenâ
In her musical opening on Broadway, Keys tells a story very much like her own life, using her own hit songsâbut donât call it autobiographical.
Rhiannon Giddens, Americanaâs Queen, on Cultivating the Black Roots of Country Music
The singer, banjo player, music scholar, and opera composer talks with David Remnick about the legacy of Black string musicâand how not to be limited by genre.
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