On Her Song ‘Brand New Me’
“Don’t be mad that I’m different,” Alicia explains about the song. “Don’t be mad that I’m changed. Don’t be mad that I’m grown. You can’t affect me the way you once did. You can’t be mad. Like, how could you be mad?”
“My favorite part of that song is the bridge. The bridge says, ‘If you were a friend, you’d want to get to know me again/If you were worth the while, you’d be happy to see me smile/I’m not expectin’ sorry. I’m too busy finding myself.’ All of us have had that type of realization: ‘You don’t control me. You might have at one time, but you don’t anymore.’ I love that song so much. It’s so freaking real.”
On Naming Her Son Egypt
“I took an important trip for myself to Egypt. There were a lot of things that needed to change. I was not as experienced then, so I felt close to a breakdown. I went to Egypt, and I went alone. I sailed down the Nile and I saw the temples, the tombs, and the pyramids. It was powerful.” She adds with a laugh, “It was very Cleopatra.”
“I took an important trip for myself to Egypt. There were a lot of things that needed to change. I was not as experienced then, so I felt close to a breakdown. I went to Egypt, and I went alone. I sailed down the Nile and I saw the temples, the tombs, and the pyramids. It was powerful.” She adds with a laugh, “It was very Cleopatra.”
When we found out I was pregnant, my husband said, ‘Egypt was such an important time for you. That really changed your life.’ Wouldn’t that be amazing as a name?’ Once he said that, I was like, ‘Yes.’
Read more: Necole Bitchie.com: Alicia Keys Covers Complex: Dishes On Finding Herself, Being Guarded & “Brand New Me” http://necolebitchie.com/2012/11/13/alicia-keys-complex/#ixzz2CEMLXSfU
