Alicia Keys is featured in the latest issue of W magazine.  The “No One” singer showcases an edgy and dark look for the photo shoot. This in-depth interview dives into Keys’ music career and how she felt when she first stepped into the industry.

Here’s what Keys had to say about debuting as an artist:

“I just wanted to be who I was, which was like so many other girls I knew. We grew up in the city, had a hard edge and obstacles to overcome, but we were still young and beautiful. I didn’t want to be all dressed up, all made up—I wanted to be myself, which hadn’t been done before.”

“I was a young girl with very strong ideas but no experience. I just knew that everything else I was doing was wrong—that all the suggestions weren’t what was in my mind, they weren’t what it was meant to be.”

“How terrible would it have been if I had come out with some watered-down version of who I am? People fell in love with the real me, and I still feel blessed that that was how the journey began.”

 

Read the full interview at WMagazine.com.