Alicia Keys, photographed for her “Women who Rock” cover story feature alongside Eve and Missy Elliott in the October 30 issue of Rolling Stone magazine by Max Vadukul in New York, September 2003.

The 934th issue cover story of Rolling Stone, titled “Women who Rock,” featured seven spotlight articles of women musicians including Dolly Parton, Missy Elliott, Eve and Lauryn Hill, who “play by their own rules,” and do so “brilliantly.”

In the corresponding interview with celebrity interviewer Jancee Dunn, Alicia’s described as wearing a pair of jeans, a brown/yellow/cream leather jacket and a pair of big sparkly black earrings. She speaks candidly about her forthcoming sophomore album The Diary of Alicia Keys, particularly how the record reflects Sixties and Seventies soul music: “That’s some of the best music ever created, period, end of story. I feel sometimes it’s a lost art—being a true artist, having different angles to offer, experimenting. Long songs that last forever, like eleven minutes—I’m really inspired by things like that.”

The singer also expressed her quality of being grounded amongst the stress of public expectation for her new album: “I think we sometimes make things extra heavy for ourselves. And if I find myself feeling like that, I’m like, ‘Go take a walk, go to the movies or something, go see your grandmother, go get with your homegirls and drive around and be silly.’”