Alicia Keys, photographed for her feature in the Spring 2001 issue of Fader magazine by Philippe Bialobos.

For her first pre-debut interview, then Fader senior editor Eric Ducker covered Alicia as being one of the first artists signed to Clive Davis’ J Records. Discussing the buzz around her and her soon-to-be stardom. Alicia spoke on her concerns for how she would be marketed, almost referencing her previous dissatisfaction with being signed to Columbia Records: "It's scary, because when you put yourself out there, you can only hope that you can make the person understand you in that hour or two you have with them. Are they really going to understand who am I in two hours? Can they capture it?"

Continuing on about the future, "I can be satisfied with not selling 12 million records and not going on tour with N'Sync. That's okay with me. But say my album is released and I do sell 12 million records? It's almost like, what can you do after that? Can you sell another 12 million records? That's creating an even bigger hype that you then must surpass."

Born in Paris, contemporary photographer Philippe Bialobos came to New York in the early 1990s, when he was 27, to expand his photography opportunities. Bialobos is hired these days not only for fashion shoots but for portraits and videos as well.