Songoftheday 09/26/24 - Some people live for the fortune, some people live for the fame...

 

 

"If I Ain't Got You" - Alicia Keys

from the album The Diary Of Alicia Keys (2003)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #4 (one week)

Weeks in the Top-40: 38

 

Today's song comes from singer/songwriter Alicia Keys, who had returned to the top ten on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in the beginning of 2004 with the Grammy-winning "You Don't Know My Name". The second single from her Diary Of Alicia Keys album was "If I Ain't Got You", which she wrote and produced herself. The lyrics lay out a simple concept that all the material things don't even come close to matching the rewards of being in love. But the conservation of words works to the benefit of the song, allowing Alicia to concentrate on the emotions involved. Her production, which is organic with the instrumentation and harkens to the classic soul years of the late 60s/early 70s, really focuses on the melody and allows Alicia to vamp without seeming showy. The result is a timeless love ballad that matches the best of Stax. The music video casts Wu Tang Clan rapper Method Man as Keys' man...

"If I Ain't Got You" became the second top ten hit from Alicia's Diary on Billboard's Hot 100 in July of 2004, while spending six weeks at #1 on their R&B Singles chart. On the radio, the song peaked at #9 on the Mainstream Top-40 chart, #2 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay list, #12 on the Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") format, and #5 on the dance/R&B-oriented Rhythmic station chart. But its biggest success was on the older-skewing Adult R&B format, where "If I Ain't Got You" spent ten weeks at #1. Internationally, the single reached the top-40 in the Netherlands (#11), France (#15), the United Kingdom (#18), Italy (#22), Canada (#22 Airplay), and Switzerland (#35). At the Grammy Awards in 2005, the song won for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and was nominated for Song of the Year, losing to John Mayer for "Daughters". 

Both Alicia and the album will be back to the series.

(10/10)

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Here's Alicia performing the song on Letterman...

Next up on the Grammys where she was robbed for Song Of The Year....

Keys performed the song at the iTunes Festival in 2012...

This is an intimate take for her Sessions At AOL gig...

Lastly, in 2023, Alicia reprised the song with an all-woman of color orchestra for the show Bridgerton...

Up tomorrow: This Carolina rapper ain't talking about root vegetables.