Alicia Keys, photographed wearing Iceberg for the cover of the 78th issue of British lifestyle magazine Dazed & Confused (now Dazed) by Terry Richardson in June 2001.

In Alicia’s 2020 memoir More Myself, she recalls how she felt “manipulated” and “objectified” during a photoshoot before the release of her debut album around 19-years-old. Although she did not name the photographer nor publication, many fans and news outlets drew unmistaken comparisons between her descriptions.

Known to models as "Uncle Terry," Richardson has been infamous since the 1990s for "an almost soft-p*rn aesthetic" featuring nudity, innuendo and simulated sex acts, according to The Guardian. Since the early 2000s, he’s been accused multiple times of using his influence in the fashion industry to sexually exploit models during shoots. In 2017, major fashion magazines like Vogue, GQ and Vanity Fair announced they would stop commissioning Richardson.

While on set, the photographer insisted that he needed to shoot photos of her alone, which her team obliged. “When I emerge from the dressing room, there’s just the two of us on set. ‘Open up your shirt a little,’ he directs while firing off a flurry of camera snaps,” Alicia writes in her book. “My spirit is screaming that something is wrong, that this feels sleazy. But my protests, lodged in the back of my throat, can’t make their way out.”

The photographer then asked her to pull the top of her jeans down a bit in the front. “If I say no, what doors will be closed to me? I swallow my misgivings, tuck my thumb between the denim and my skin, and obey,” she recollected. She says she “cried harder than ever” once she went home after the shoot. Alicia was appalled once she saw the cover when it finally dropped. “On the day of the cover’s debut, I pass a newsstand where the magazine is on display. I almost throw up.” 

Alicia added that the discomfort didn’t just stem from showing skin on a magazine cover, it was the feeling of being taken advantage of: “This isn’t about me showing some skin, which I’ll do on my own terms, for my own purposes, in the coming years. It’s about feeling manipulated. It’s about being objectified,” she writes. “I am beyond embarrassed, ashamed that I’ve sold part of myself…Had Jeff Robinson been in there, he would’ve voiced what I couldn’t at the time: Hell no. Close that shirt. Take your hand off your tit. And you’re not going to yank down your jeans.”

The experience had a profound impact on the now mother: “I swear that I’ll never again let someone rob me of my power,” she wrote. “It’s a promise I still work to keep.”

 

Alicia Keys, photographed exclusively for her feature in the October issue of Vibe magazine by Danielle Levitt in 2001.

She wears a black sheer long-sleeve top with a zip-up neck by Dolce & Gabbana, blue denim zebra-striped pants with snakeskin detail by Baby Phat, and a black leather belt by Plein Sud.

Brooklyn-based former executive editor of Vibe Lakán Angelo Ragaza writes about the new J Records artist in a walk-up studio in Alicia’s native West Side Manhattan neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen as she rehearses for her support act on Maxwell’s upcoming national tour in July. Alicia’s Songs in A Minor debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 1, selling over 236,000 copies at the time.

“It’s been one trial, one test of confidence and faith after the next,” Alicia confides to Vibe. “Success doesn’t just mean that I’m the singer, and you give me my 14 points, and that’s all. That’s not how it’s going down. I plan to expand, in every way possible.”

 

“The Maestro” 

Alicia Keys, photographed exclusively for her feature in the October issue of Vibe magazine by Danielle Levitt in 2001.

Brooklyn-based former executive editor of Vibe Lakán Angelo Ragaza writes about the new J Records artist in a walk-up studio in Alicia’s native West Side Manhattan neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen as she rehearses for her support act on Maxwell’s upcoming national tour in July. Alicia’s Songs in A Minor debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 1, selling over 236,000 copies at the time.

Father to So So Def Recordings’ Jermaine Dupri, Michael Mauldin signed Alicia to the Columbia label when he was senior Vice President of black music. But when he left the label, Alicia languished in development hell. “I think he had the vision for where she was going to be,” Dupri says to Vibe. “Nobody else had that same guidance as far as watching over her project and making sure it was going to go down the way he planned—a real project that you have to take your time with. It probably was a sour experience for her.”

“It’s been one trial, one test of confidence and faith after the next,” Alicia confides to Vibe. “Success doesn’t just mean that I’m the singer, and you give me my 14 points, and that’s all. That’s not how it’s going down. I plan to expand, in every way possible.”

 

Alicia Keys and “Ruff Ryders’ First Lady” Eve, photographed performing during the NFL’s Kickoff Concert in Times Square on September 5, 2002. 

The concert was a kickoff to the NFL's first game of the season as the NFL led an unprecedented day of music and football-themed festivities in celebration and countdown to the San Francisco 49ers Vs. the New York Giants game at Giants Stadium that night. Crowds saw live performances from Bon Jovi, Enrique Iglesias, and Eve duetting with Alicia on stage adorned in tailored jerseys from their respective home cities.

Alicia and Eve duetted on the lead single “Gangsta Lovin’” from Eve’s third studio album “Eve-Olution” released in late August. The song became Eve’s second number two hit on the Billboard Hot 100, following 2001’s “Let Me Blow Ya Mind”. The two additionally appeared in the music video for “Gangsta Lovin’” together.

Televised by CBS, MTV, VH-1 and ESPN, the concert included recognition and support of New York’s September 11 memorial events with the NFL and the Players Association contributing about $10 million to Sept. 11 disaster relief funds. The game itself was a historic occasion as the NFL had never opened its season on a Thursday night before.

Then New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the party, which arrived six days before the first anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center: “What the city gets out of the event is a lot of money to help fund the ceremony downtown for 9/11 and a lot of money to help in the re-development of downtown," he said.

In addition to marking the NFL's new season, the "NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square" is also a celebration "of the resilient spirit of New York and America."

The 49ers would beat the Giants 16-13.

 

Alicia Keys, photographed as she arrives at the first Alexander McQueen New York store opening in Manhattan’s meatpacking district at 419 West 14th Street on September 5, 2002.

McQueen’s 3,600-square-foot store was his first in the United States accompanying newcomer Stella McCartney. Both stores located in the former meatpacking plants on 14th Street, west of Ninth Avenue and a few doors from Jeffrey’s, another designer clothing store. Other tenants on the block included the housewares shop Bodum and several art galleries. 

Jeffery Kalinsky, who opened Jeffery’s in 1999, said he welcomed the McQueen and McCartney stores: “It gives people more reason to come to the neighborhood,” he said.

In a statement, Mr. McQueen said the neighborhood “projects an exciting energy that is unique for New York and totally right for McQueen.”

Despite the influx of small shops, many retailers still considered the area remote and untested as a shopping district, said Robin Abrams a broker with the Lansco Corporation. “For fashion-forward retailers and designers,” she said, “this is making more of a statement than going to SoHo or NoLiTa.” 

Earlier in the day Alicia performed at the NFL’s Kickoff Concert in Times Square. The concert was a kickoff to the NFL's first game of the season as the NFL led an unprecedented day of music and football-themed festivities in celebration and countdown to the San Francisco 49ers Vs. the New York Giants game at Giants Stadium that night.