Alicia Keys

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Hey there, this is Josh from Stuff You Should Know with a message that could change your life. The Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring podcast playlist is available now. Whether Spring has sprung in your neck of the woods yet or not, the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist will make you want to get your overalls on, get outside, and get your hands in the dirt. You can get the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. With performances by Alex Warren, Kehlani, Laini Wilson, Ludacris, Ray, TLC, Salt and Pepper, and Invoke. Plus Taylor Swift makes her first award show appearance this year. Also Gold Medal Olympian, Alyssa Liu, Neo, Nick Colesure Singer, Nikki Glaser, Sombra, Weiser, and more. Watch live on Fox, Thursday, March 26th, at 8, 7, Central. And listen on iHeart radio stations across America and the free iHeart app. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tank. I'm Jay Valentine. And this, my friends, is the R&B Money Podcast. Yes it is. The authority! Boy, you didn't drink your tea. On all things. 17 D. R&B. On the Grammys. 17 D. No sleep. No sleep. See, I got a little paperwork. Yeah, she got hardware. What? I'm talking talent. Whole bunch of it. Whole bunch of it. Yeah, yeah. Sing it. Yeah. Write it. Produce it. From that empire. Write it again. Direct it. And then put it on Broadway. And put it on! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Broadway. You want my story, don't you? Ladies and gentlemen, my boss is here. She signs my checks. Yes. And I'm grateful for it. This woman needs absolutely no introduction, but I just had to create one. The amazing, the beautiful, Mrs. Alicia Key. Thank you. Yeah! Yes! That was... AKG! AKG! Let's go. And the jeans is like, I'm so sick of what she's doing. That was the best intro ever. Listen, this is... I'm gonna run that back. Put it in your show, right before your show starts. Please do. First of all, thank you. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. When you show up, it means something. Thank you. And we appreciate that whole heart of it. This is amazing, man. Yeah. Such a good vibe. And we got history and such respect. And the music is so pure. So it's a blessing. You've been dope since day one in Sacramento. I always tell you about that show. Well, I don't remember. Who's me, you and Jimmy Cosier. What? In Sacramento? In Sacramento. Wow. And I did my thing. And well, Cosie did his thing. And then I did my thing. And then you were last. And I'm like, well, why she last? This is crazy. You know what I'm saying? And then you came out and you performed. And you said to me, I don't play this. I said, oh, that's why she's last. God. Okay. All right. That's crazy. And 17 Grammys later. Yeah, that's why she was last. Got to hear that. Wow. Wow. That's crazy. So the respect is in mitts. Thank you, brother. I was reading. We always do our one sheets. And I was reading down your one sheet. It's insane. Jesus Christ. It's insane. It does. Like, yeah, yeah, yeah. My head start hurting. I was like, yep, I ain't did enough. If it feels like reading your one sheet, you have to plan to go home and eat dinner. Like that has to be in the plan. Like it's got to be scheduled. Yeah. I am a serious scheduler. That's a true thing. I do believe in like making sure that you have the space to do the things that you love. And well, everything that I do, I love. But the things that can kind of get scheduled out if you don't pay attention to it. So, you know, your family can get scheduled out because you like can get so busy that you find yourself, wait a minute, have I spent enough time there? Have I done things like just go home and have dinner and chill out and just be easy? So I'm really big on that. I actually am big. We have days that we all eat together. It's like really, it's a thing. Like it's a part of it. So I feel you, but I love a schedule. You are booked in the business. What's the schedule? It's no way to get all of that done without a schedule. You can't wing that. Yeah. Not what you've accomplished. It's not even possible to be just an artist. Right. And I think most people, when they get into our industry, they only get into the industry to be an artist, more so than to be a business and to have life. You know what I mean? Have beautiful children, have been married. All the great, amazing things that you've done, it has to be planned. It has to be scheduled. You know what I mean? I don't know. I think some things, I mean, some of the best things, also you don't know are happening. Some of the best things, you couldn't even have thought of that thing. I found myself oftentimes in my life, I'm like, man, I never even realized that it was going to lead here. Or like, how did it end up getting here? And so sometimes I'm so surprised by how things go. But I understand what you're saying, and I appreciate what you're saying, which is the idea that we are unlimited. There is no limit. I think a lot of times in our lives, we feel so limited. We feel like there's already a judgment on how high we can go or what we can do or what we can't do or what's available to us. So I love this idea that we are unlimited and there is no ceiling. There is nothing we can't figure out. Right. So that's definitely big for me. And it took me a minute to get to the place where I believed that. You know? So let's talk unlimited. Because you want to throw that word out there. Because there was music, there was writing and producing, and there was performance, and then there's fashion, and then there's art, and then there's philanthropy, and then there's book writing. And then Jay's like, hey man, what you think about Broadway? I was like, I haven't thought much about Broadway. Well, Alicia Keys is looking for you. Alicia who? Alicia Keys is looking for you. And for what reason? What's it talking to me about? What's going on? She's got to play on Broadway and they would like to see. And I was like, this is Broadway. Wow, Broadway. Now tell the truth, you turn into a thespian immediately. No, no, no, no, no. I've never imagined myself doing Broadway. I was like, oh my god, this guy. I'm not sure of the parameters that are involved in doing such a thing at this point in my career. And I'm like, but I look at Lulu and Jay and I'm like, okay, it's Alicia first. She called. Let's start there. So whatever that is, we have to see that through. The respect alone. I have to go see what she's talking about and I have to be prepared for whatever is needed just for that. Whether it's whether I want to do it or not do it, I have to go see her. That's it. It starts there. And so me and Lulu say, let's get there a day before so we can go see the play. I got all my pages. I got all my pages. But let's go see it. Let's see what she's doing on the Broadway. Let me see what she's doing. I know she's high level, but Broadway, come on, bro. Man, I watched precision from the intro from the time the lights went off. Welcome to hell's, from that to the end. Let's go. Let's get it. He can't wait for that. Hey, hey, I can't. I do my dance. That's the thing. I do. I know what I'm doing up there. Oh, God. And I said, oh my God. If there's ever a time and place for me to be on Broadway, it is here and now because you have constructed a part. You didn't even know this. This is the divine part of it. You have constructed a part in a role that absolutely speaks to who I am and what I've been through. With having daughters who lived in New York 3,000 miles away and trying to be tank and trying to and missing things, important things and getting in. And I'm like, so after that, it was just like, I have to be a part of it. I have to. It is everything that my life needs to be right now. And that's crazy. And I don't understand. No, I understand unlimited, but I'm trying to understand your mind going from this deep. I mean, incredible success, but going into this space where you grind for 13 years to get this thing in the shoe. But you have to give us some. You got to give us some of that. Okay, first, let me say I love every single thing you said. If y'all don't know, Tank is coming back to the show. November 14th all the way to the end of the month is two weeks. You don't want to miss him in this show because let me tell you what happened. This is why I'm so glad you brought that up because when we connected and you, you know, we worked through the material, you don't know. You're like, I love his voice. His voice is crazy. I know he's acted before. So I know he got all the energy, but Broadway is a whole nother animal. It's just a whole nother level of greatness. This is what I've realized is that the people who can hold their own on that Broadway stage are literally a different caliber of performer because you have to be so multifaceted. You have to be able to juggle so much and in real time and for multiple nights a week in a level that is just not really easy at all. How prepared you, that's the part when you say you went to see the show. How prepared you were and how earnest you were and how much you were like so focused on being exceptional. I just saw you myself in a light that I'd never even seen you in, in that room, that small, tiny little room. I said, whoa, hold on a minute. This is another level. And then watching you take the stage and become Davis and love it, like really actually love it and bring like so much light and joy to it. So that was just one thing because when I feel like that's a big testament to who you are, because people, you know, they kind of coast. You know, they do the least and they kind of run in and you know, people feel like they don't have to put the work in, especially sometimes when you reach a certain level. But that's when you have to put the most work in. That's what I think cats don't get. Absolutely. Right? And so that was amazing. I just, I just loved that. I was so proud of all of that. And then boom. So you, you're killing it, about to kill it again, November 14th through the end of the month. But the process of making Hell's Kitchen was, you know, fascinating. Really for me too. Again, back to the like, you can't schedule everything, you know, like you don't know what's going to happen or how it's going to come. And I had this inspiration, you know, 14 and a half years ago now to be, to create something on Broadway. I'd done a little thing. I did, I'd done a producer role in a really smart play called Stick Fly, written by Lydia Diamond. It's really smart, really cool. And people loved it. Like it was, but it was my first kind of experience in the world. And it was the very beginning of when we were starting to see Broadway become more diversified. And I remember feeling really, really passionate about being a part of that. Like telling stories that aren't the stories you've ever seen before. And my mother was the quintessential kind of New York transplant coming from Midwest, dreaming of being an actor, going to NYU. And that's how we got to New York because of her original dream. So when I started to develop this idea about this building that we grew up in, which is called Manhattan Plaza, and it was like the one, this one of a kind building that was subsidized for artists. So you had super cheap rent, but you were in the middle of the city. It was a brand new idea. That's amazing. Yes. And most people would have never had the opportunity, definitely not me, to be it surrounded by so much art and entertainment and life and opportunity. And this building really was the conduit for it. So the building we grew up in was literally kind of like this artistic community of people, of all walks of life. They might be orchestrators, they might be violin players, they might be actors, they might be artists, they might be drummers, they might be playwrights, whatever the case. And this was the building. So this building to me, I knew was such a character, it was such an interesting place and location. And then I had grown up in this space. So this show about this young girl named Ali really trying to find her way in the world and how her community kind of really ends up being the thing that inspires her and her mentor, Ms. Liza Jane and her mother, who she's desperately fighting against because she's very overbearing. You recognize at the end of it that it's a mother-daughter love story and how you, as the people you push away the most are the people that you often need the most. And so it's very emotional, funny, joyful, triumphant. The dancing is crazy. Camille Brown choreographed it. Michael Greifu did Rent and Dear Evan Hansen is the director and Chris Diaz, who's also a super young writer who grew up in New York, was a part of writing the whole thing. So the process took forever. Like, 13 years and at some point I was like, whoo, this is, and then COVID hit and all the things, all the things that just delays everything. And it was a process because you had to find the right people, you had to find the right writer, you had to find the right partnership. You had to really feel it out. And then this particular Hell's Kitchen was like, to me, this was like my redemption. And I say that because I think as young artists, we find ourselves in places where we are not the owners of our business. We are not, we're not the, you know, we're not the ones who really call the shots. And so ultimately you become controlled and you become taken advantage of and manipulated. You're so young, you don't know, you don't know the things that you know as time goes on. And so this to me ended up being kind of a place where I really understood the business. Now this was a new business for me because Broadway is a new place for me, but being able to merge the worlds was my intention. And most importantly, being able to reflect the city that I grew up in, which is so diverse and full of so many different styles of people and energies and backgrounds, you know, and that is what you see on that stage. So it took forever to develop it and put it all together. But I think the most important part was trusting my instinct. And that's why, you know, I always maintain control of the, of the, of the piece creatively, you know, the IP, the intellectual property is mine because I knew that that's, it's the only way that it could be. And so that was the way that I was able to just harness the truth and the energy. And I saw it trusted my gut, even though it was scary as hell. I was like, what if I can't do this? What if I fuck it up? What if I'm going to all these people and I'm saying, believe in me, believe in this? And we, what, what if? And I had to like get myself out of my own head. And I knew that, I knew that it was something special, though. I knew that it was unique and emotional and heartfelt. And so I think the unlimitedness came from the tenacity, like the strength to just keep going step by step, even when it was like it was never going to happen. Was it going to pan out? Could it be keep going, keep believing, keep trusting yourself? No, you, you've done it. And I mean, and for me, as sitting on the outside of it, right? Obviously it's your creation, it's your baby. And then he's a part of it. He's in it. I had never been to Broadway. That part. This is what brought me to Broadway. That part. And what makes it even funnier is my daughter saw the play before I did. My 10 year old. She's smart. She's like, she's like, wait, she's like, no, no, she's smart. She's cultured. She's, she's, yeah. She's a thing. Okay. Right. Not these kids. Yeah. My daughter had been to Paris. I ain't been to Paris. You know what I mean? Like, so she, she, she on another level. She, she, so I tell her, I said, Uncle Tank is going to do Broadway. And I'm, because she just asked me about different things, right? She doesn't know what he's going to do. What play he's going to do. She says to me, is he doing Hell's Kitchen? Wow. I said, actually he is. No, that's crazy. And she goes, but I already went to go see it and Uncle Tank wasn't in it. And I was like, all right, well, babe, how is it? I gotta ask my, I gotta ask my daughter. I'm like, I'm like, babe, how is it? She's like, the play is great dad. And it's Allie. And then it's her mom. And she started to give me the whole breakdown and the whole thing. And I'm like, wow, this is crazy. So she was like, well, tell me how it goes. And tell me if you meet Alicia Keys. And tell me if you meet Alicia Keys. I was like, I don't know if I'm a Middle East Keys. But I'll tell you how it goes. And when I go, and it's funny because I called Lulu before when I first landed, because I think he was preparing. And I'm like, you know, I don't do this Broadway shit, right? Right. Like is this going to kill, like what's this going to be like? I'm like, Lulu, what the hell, dawg? And he was like, no, brother, you gotta see it. You gotta, and I was like, yeah, no, I talked to Naomi, my daughter, I talked to Naomi, she said it was cool. And when I get in there and, you know, I'm also one of those people where I'm like, okay, man, I'm sitting here. Man, you sit there. So you got your space. I sit down and somebody goes right here. You hold up next to me. And I'm getting a coat off. And I'm like, all right, maybe you on Broadway. Behave yourself. I'm all right. I'm all right. I'm like, behave yourself. You on Broadway. No, and just in watching it, and I'm like, this is absolutely amazing. And I was telling him, I said, bro, I'm super, super proud of you. Taking the chance, really, really flexing your creative muscles and being willing to maybe get your ass kicked. Right? Because this is my best friend for my 100 years. So we, I've seen him on every stage. Right. And when he first got out there and Jersey girl started getting on his ass, I'm like, oh, fight back. Fight back to take. Fight. Oh, shit. Right. But it was, it was such a, it was such a cool space to see him in and to see like, okay, he's working his ass off. You know what I'm saying? Like he's working his ass off and these people on this stage ain't playing. Nah. I'm talking about, and I'm one of those people like I'm watching the people that are behind the thing. I'm looking. Right. I'm just, I'm just, I'm like, okay, so they up there and then they got the people down there. And I'm watching the whole thing. I'm like, oh, this is really a real production. This is amazing. So I just want to say thank you first for giving me that type of experience. I would have never went to Broadway. I ain't going to hold you. It was never happening. It's going to be hard to go to anything else. You know what I mean? Well, I don't really plan on it. I'm coming back to see. See Hell's Kitchen. I'm going to see back in Hell's Kitchen. I don't know about them. And Hell's Kitchen is like that. It is. It's a thing that appeals to the Broadway audience and also the non-Broadway people. I invited people and rappers and all sorts of people who lived in New York and had never been to a Broadway play. And came to see Hell's Kitchen and was crying. You're crying. You can't help but cry. Recipient John Mellencamp. Innovator Award Recipient Miley Cyrus. With performances by Alex Warren, Kailani, Lainey Wilson, Ludacris, Ray, TLC, Salt and Pepper and Invoke. Plus Taylor Swift makes her first award show appearance this year. I cry, I cry. I cry. Elizabeth Taylor is happy for real. Deep pink it's forever. Also Gold Medal Olympian Alyssa Liu, Neo, Nicole Scherzinger, Nikki Glaser, Sombra, Weiser and more. Watch live on Fox, Thursday, March 26th, at 8, 7 central. And listen on iHeart radio stations across America and the free iHeart app. Hey there. This is Josh from Stuff You Should Know with a message that could change your life. The Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring Podcast playlist is available now. Whether Spring has sprung in your neck of the woods yet or not, the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist will make you want to get your overalls on, get outside and get your hands in the dirt. You can get the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Did you like, what's the, what's you created? And once you start to see it on stage because things unfold, you know what I mean? And depending on who's in what role and these types of things, like different things come to light and all these things. And once you finally get this thing like running, like running, what are some of the nuances that surprise you that maybe weren't written in that you were like, oh wow, that's a moment that we need to let's really blow this moment out. Like let's add to this moment. You know, there's, it's true. It really does become its own being. Like it's its own kind of evolving. And honestly, every night it's evolving. Every week is changing. Of course, it has a standard that it always hits. But still, like that's what I think is the part of live performance. Like it's never going to be exactly the same. But I remember the first time Miss Liza Jane said, you are here. So Miss Liza Jane is the mentor of Allie. And she's really not playing no games. She plays classical piano. She's the teacher. She plays piano. And she's, you know, she's really what Allie needs because Allie kind of needs to, she really needs to get put in her place. You know, and so this woman is, you know, she's, she's older. She's wise. She's maternal. She's powerful. And she's not playing any games with her. And the first time, the first couple of times that Kisha Lewis, who did win the Tony talk about it, talk about it. For Hell's Kitchen, Pisha is so special. Which by the way, just quick diversion. And I'll come back to the question. It was fascinating, the whole Tony process, because Kisha has been on Broadway and an actor for 40 plus years. Wow. And this was the first time. That she got recognized. In that way. In that way. Of course she's recognized. She's celebrated. She's beloved. Like, no statue makes us who we are. But the fact that she got recognized in this way, in this piece, like, I can't even tell you, like, that was a level of, that was a level of success for me. That was different, you know, to that that could happen for her. So the first time she gets on stage, she's all fiery and she's, and then Ali's all like freaking out. And she's like, you are here because the voices of your ancestors requested your presence. And the audience lost it. And we never truly knew how certain lines are going to land. You don't fully, you feel it. But when that landed so ridiculously crazy on the audience, that was the moment we were like, ooh, that's like a moment. That's a thing that's important. So there are, you know, there are so many of those that happen. And particularly, I would say with Davis and Jersey. So one of my favorite moments in the show is when Davis comes back. Jersey actually calls her, can you help me with our daughter? I'm having a hard time. You know, it's one of those moments everybody's been through and they're 17. Or if they're a parent and their kids starting to do that thing. Yeah. And they, they together sing Fallen, which is literally so crazy because nobody expects Davis to lead Fallen. Like you've never heard a guy sing Fallen. And that was another thing I never realized. I was like, man, I never, I never actually heard a guy truly own Fallen. And so when Davis starts Fallen, he's like, Davis is all smooth. And, you know, he's, he was kind of based off of Sammy Davis Jr. Each character has a musical inspiration and Davis is a Sammy Davis Jr. My head, that's how I saw, he's kind of got that finesse, that elegance. And yet he's flawed, like all of us. And so he starts singing Fallen. And we, we, Adam, he's actually sitting right over there, musical supervisor. Hi, Adam. You know what I mean? An orchestrator and creator. And he, we did this thing at the top of it. Like, no, Davis has to take his time. I'm on that. He has to, he has to finesse that beginning and he has to go around and the whole, and the whole audience don't exactly know what's happening because it sounds so good. And then he hits that beginning note. And that's how I had this whole act on Broadway. They are up right there and I'm trying to stay a character, but I'm silly. Like, you're halfway tacky. You're halfway tacky. Oh, should I take my shirt off? Should I take my shirt off? Why? I know what she thinking. No, bro. Oh, I'm trying to stay a professional. It's growth. It's growth. It's like, it's crazy because it's, it's fun. It's funny. It's spiritual. It's, it's redemptive. Like it's, it's every, it checks every box and I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen anything like it. Like my mama is hard body. Okay. Not here to play. Church hard body. Not coming out. Not again. You know what I mean? Yeah. And she saw Keisha and Jessica and, and when I think she might have prayed with Keisha. I bet you she did. I'm, I'm saying she said, she said the red. Bray. This play was phenomenal. Listen, when you get the phenomenal. I don't know when, when she gonna be married, I said the rhythm of Gergiy, the phenomenal. Listen. She gonna whip me. He gonna hit her. I'll buy you some. When she give you phenomenal. Um, yeah, mama don't play. And, and just, and just, I just want to say this. I want people to understand that as we're talking about a 13 year haul, in terms of pursuing a dream and getting something like this on its legs. I want people to understand or just try to consider the cost, the business that goes along something like this. The faith you have to have in, in essence, putting this kind of money where your mouth and heart is. Oh my God. I told you I was terrifying. Oh man, wait a minute. Like hold on now. I need these people to trust in me with everything. And I had to make sure that that trust was fulfilled. So that we celebrate a year and a half on Broadway is an amazing accomplishment that we just launched the national tour. So this is crazy. So I announced I'm coming back and I guess it's gonna be in Chicago in the 14th. So people are thinking up in Chicago. You Chicago. Who are you going? No, I'm, no, I'm, I'm, I'm at the bit. You know what, let me just put the shoe birth theaters where I will be old man don't travel. Let's stay put. That's not true. No, that's true. But, but that's, that's crazy within itself. Now you got the, you got the building. You have the destruction to found. How many nighty trucks? I know that it's over a hundred shows. Over over a hundred shows and there will be more all across the country. Everywhere, like it says, Chicago is next. It's amazing. It's going to be pretty much every state is getting it. So you're going to, they're going to love it. It's amazing launching the touring company was incredible. And what's crazy is these, these young actors and dancers and creative people that are just like in the world. You're like, oh my, like, at that age though, how did everybody get so incredible? This is crazy. The internet. We just like, I'm going to study this. In its osmosis, right? Think of the other things we absorbed as kids growing up. And what we were able to become off of that. Now think about what our kids are absorbing as they're coming up and like multiply that time. Oh, we're having this thriller VHS. Listen, that was pretty good. I would want that thing till I learned the whole dance and be you wife purple rain. They come on. They like my mom would let me really. Oh, you could watch purple rain. Yeah, I guess maybe I didn't really watch. Terz DeRail. I'm revised every now and then. I was trying to watch Scarface at four. Oh, that's messed up. That might have influenced you. Sir, where? Absolutely. I learned out of time during the team. I've been hustling every six. Yeah. Your production out of control. Your staging out of control. Costume everything out of control. Oh, it's trying to wear the outfit he was looking for. He's like, I'll be wearing the pair. I said, you ready, David's outfit. They're all I'm not feeling. They wouldn't let me print. But I wanted I want to get to a part that I know. I know you. I know you did your heart because it's dear to my heart. I want to get to the music out. No, we have a guy here. Yes, there's a guy who was part of part of the music. Being part. They got it. They got him right. You got. Does he have to share my hair? Hair make up. I got a hair make up. Did they get it right? Yeah, do we? He's walking it. I like the walk. Cool ass walk. I like the walk. He got a show. What's up, Damus? I'm so happy to see Adam letting me put this whole thing together. Yes, sir. I'm frustrated this month. Right here. Sean, can you grab me the Hell's Kitchen book, please? Thank you. Mr. Blackstone is the reason why we now film at the legendary Sunro. It's the way this is happening indefinitely. Like this is just box. So I am the new creative director of this hotel and music venue, which we won't give you a little tour of when you leave here. Let's go. One of the first installations is having my brothers here to do a rugby month. Yeah, I feel like you have something to do with that. Alicia's alright. We may be charging up a certain. This came up with that bid. I'll share the citizenship. It's the name presented for sure. That's right. Oh, you know. No, no. This guy went. Alicia, thank you. Thank you. Hold on. Hold on. I was trying to surprise you. She kind of just do it. I've been here a whole lot. So I mean, it just felt like you need one of these. It's really out today. This is out today. The Hell's Kitchen behind. So man, and you need to have one of these. You know what I mean? This you have to have one. Put through it. Don't cry. It's so special. This is oh my god. So it's the bag. I go here and here. I just do the whole process of what we've been through from the beginning. Right. Her beginning. Day one. Her day one. My day one up until who we are now. So it was very exciting, man. Like there's a lot of gyms in there too. A lot of secrets. A lot of processing. It was really, really indebted and beautiful. Just look at you. And you feel like I'm home. This is going to get you back. This is going to get you back in the zone. Put it in your house. Look at him. Look at him. Don't you worry. I'm not worried. I love Carby Table Bus. Your daughter. Oh, she's going to love it. That would be okay. We got to work out. I got you. No, but since she's getting home from school, so you know I hung out with her that long. She break the tissue. Why do you have to break the tissue? I cannot come to set. He said, this is a rebit emotional. If I'm going to leave the tissue in my nose. Bring the tissue. Press the T to the legend. Bring the tissue please. This is this game. Dang. Like, you know what I'm saying? This ain't all. That's the whole thing. No. This is like, like changing. Yeah. Like changing most of the music. You know, I remember it. No, no, no. You're not. You stop. You stop. You stop. I got to tell you something. Okay. Who's singing? Falling. Because that's a thing. Because I'm in this play. I'm in this play and I'm watching this play for the first time and I'm saying the music, who's being disrespectful? Who's doing that? Because that's disrespectful. Y'all, you guys were breaking rules. Absolutely. Absolutely. All the rules. And like charter, but chartering new territory. Yeah, for sure. To where when other people from other Broadway musicals come and say, oh, y'all get to eat over here. Oh. That's true. That's what happened several times. So I think that one of the things that arranging and orchestrating her incredible music allows us to do is I wanted it always from a fan's perspective. These are some of my favorite songs, not in a play. I throw on, you don't know my name. I throw on Empire. I throw on Gramercy. I throw on Falling. It's like those songs move me. So how can I have that same emotional process by watching it as a musical? I remember one day being at Jungle Studios and she said, OK, now if I ain't got you, think about it from a parent's perspective. Because I always think that she's a genius to have had wrote these songs as if there was foresight in 2003 to get to this place. Because like now when people hear my mom hears no one, she's like thinking about her grandchildren. She's thinking about her children. When I see Davis and Ali do If I Ain't Got You, I'm thinking about my daughter. And that's not necessarily what I thought about when I first heard. If I ain't got you. If I ain't got you. If I heard every time you touch me. Like you're saying to me. It's like when I think about it, like you'll never see me again. It gives a whole new perspective. So I wanted it to come from a fan's point of view. Sonically, she gave me to go ahead to push the ropes to say, we need 808s and subs. And it's banging in there too. Yeah. So it's like shout out to Gareth Owen that allowed us to do that. And just like, you know, we broke some rules on Broadway when it came to what the music sounded like and was able to do. That's all because of how I felt her music already made me feel. And I wanted people to have that same feeling, whether they were like used to it or not. It was like this. That's another reason why when you go there, it's a different experience than any other show that you may have seen because there's a feeling behind that kick drum being in there from gospel right at the top. Right. There's a feeling behind a Swiss beat sample snare. That's just on there that she'll come in for rehearsal and be like, more snare. And I'll be like, yes, I told you. Yeah. So what you saying is I'm going to go see somebody else's play. And I'm going to be like, so y'all don't got no 808 or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what it is. It ain't knocking in here. It's a little soft. It's a little soft. But I'm so thankful. And then just the musicianship alone, Alicia trusted me and my partner, Tom Kitt, another co-orchestrator and ranger, just to kind of bring it to life in a different way. And I threw some crazy ideas at her. Hey, I'm going to start falling with the upright bass. She was like, and Alicia is good for saying, let's just try it. Just see what happens. You know what I mean? And I'm going to say we got a good 85-15 ratio. It works. 90-10. 90-10. 90-5. And even probably 95. And just like, what I also am in love with with our musical is that, when you think about the R&B album space, when we think about possibly a song not being a single, there are some songs in this musical that are more popular. When people go see them, my mom says, I want to go hear Ms. Liza J. Sing's authors. And I don't know if, when you think of when my mom puts on Alicia Keys, she might want to go straight to falling on an album. So there's some songs that allow us to know her pen is crazy, allow us to know the feeling that she has written with impacts, people of all genres, all ages, all races. And that's a good thing for me. You almost don't, my cousin told me I almost didn't realize it was written in all lyrics and music by Alicia until you don't know my name. But you four songs in and we already got you by then. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? We already got you. River, gospel, you know what I mean? Like all of them, joints at the top, it's just like, goes crazy. So like, shout out to just great music, great lyricism, and allows us to tell a story in that book that Christopher Diaz was able to put together around that music. And there's some songs that didn't make it. I was sad in 2015. Yeah, he was sick. I'm saying that I fought for. But our story, you know, with our Tony Nams and all that, it's a world-renowned musical. I'm so excited to get a part of it. I was, world-renowned is the right word. World-renowned is the right word. Like this in London, this in China, this in Kogana. Yes, you know there's a Korean company being developed for House Kitchen. Yes, it is. I said that. Even for me, I'm like, the songs will be translated to Korean. That's great. It's gonna be great. We already over there scouting our Korean album. We're gonna have Black Pink performing in Hell's Kitchen. I said you're gonna have Black Pink performing in Hell's Kitchen and BTS. They're gonna be doing Hell's Kitchen play. Yep. Thursday, March 26th, live on Fox. Watch as we honor the biggest stars from all genres of music that you loved listening to all year long on your favorite I Heart radio station and the I Heart Radio app. Hosted by Ludacris. Icon Award recipient, John Mellencamp. Innovator Award recipient, Miley Cyrus. With performances by Alex Warren, Kailani. Lainey Wilson. Ludacris. Ray. TLC. Salt and pepper. And then Vogue. What a man, what a man, what a man, what a body, what a man. Plus Taylor Swift makes her first award show appearance this year. I cry, I cry, I cry. Elizabeth Taylor is happy for real. Deep pink, it's forever. Also Gold Medal Olympian, Alyssa Liu. Nioh. Nick Colesure Singer. Nikki Glaser. Sombra, Weezer, and more. Watch live on Fox Thursday, March 26th. Eddie, 7th Central. And listen at I Heart radio stations across America and the Free I Heart app. Hey there, this is Josh from Stuff You Should Know with a message that could change your life. The Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring podcast playlist is available now. Whether Spring has sprung in your neck of the woods yet or not, the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist will make you want to get your overalls on, get outside, and get your hands in the dirt. You can get the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist on the I Heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I can't imagine, like, I know you're in it. Like, you're in it. This is your baby. Like, you're 100% connected to it. And sometimes it's hard to, like, take a step out of it and float, you know, and just observe all of it and how it's happening. And do you ever get a chance to do that and really, like, take in what you're doing? I had a moment the other day. All that's the first of all, I go to the theater and I pray in the theater. Yes. I burn incense and I give thanks for, like, the energy in the space. It's super important to me that we're creating the right energy in the space. Like, I really want that. And I want that to permeate even when I'm not there. And, but the other day I did have a moment and I'm always super grateful because it's just, we know, we know how many things don't go. We know how many things don't go. Don't mean it wasn't great. Don't mean you didn't put years and energy and time behind it. Just didn't, wasn't supposed to, whatever is the reason. And so when things do, like, I'm just so, like, I get to another level of gratitude because I just know how it goes, you know. But this day, talking about the, talking about the Hell's Kitchen touring cast. And I was, it was, you know, they were just fresh off of their last rehearsal before they were getting on the plane. We were opening in Cleveland. The one, the young woman who was cast as tiny, literally came off on an open call. She didn't have an agent or anything or anything. She came in off of an open call and she was phenomenal. Incredible. And we were like, whoa, whoa, who is this girl? She had never been on a plane ride until she was going to Cleveland. What? Crazy. And, and I was like, and then we finished watching the whole rehearsal and everybody's just at the top, the top, these young actors. This is their chance, their dream, they're living it, they're giving it, they're breathing it, they're shining. You know, other, you know, more experienced actors who have been a part of so many different things. Bonus is their chance, they're, they're in the lead of this, they're doing that. And all of this 20, 30 different people from the crew and musicians and thing. And I'm watching this room and this room is full of bodies. And I had this moment and I almost lost it. I almost started crying. And I was like, look at all of these dreams. Like all of these people have a dream for themselves. And this gets to be the conduit for an opportunity for them, for the rest of their life. The thing to be able to take this and say, I was a part of this and I'm great and I succeeded and I did it. And now I can do anything else. And I was like, yo, you get so caught up in, you know, making it all run and making it all go and making it all, all the things that you know, you got to like, with life, you get into the like, I got to get it all, hell has to work. It all has to get going and be done. And for a second I just sat back and I was like, wait, if you take this group of people, which is about 50 bodies, 60 bodies, and you put it with the Broadway group of people, which is another 90 bodies, we get to be a part of creating a life for the families of all these people by this beautiful story that they get to shine through. I was like, this is bigger than so much. Really. Nah, I had a moment. So in that way, I was like, could step back and just be like, this is, I'm so like, the gratitude goes, way, way deep. So. And we are grateful for her, I got to say, because like Jay was saying, a lot of us don't get to Broadway to either see it, let alone be in something. Right. And so one of the things that I love about it is when my children come and her children and everybody, other people's kids, we see ourselves up on that stage. There's not, even though Broadway has transformed a little bit in the last couple years, I think we got a lot to do with that. And it's going to be more, you know what I mean? But it is, it's, we still need to make sure that these diverse stories are told. A lot of black and brown people, a lot of women in the band, a lot of powerful women on stage. I know when we went through our casting call for our band, it was imperative that we kept the ratio what it was and to have, I have a woman bass player, I have a woman musical director, we have a woman guitar player, and that permeates throughout all of our cast and touring cast. And on Broadway cast, those are things that I know that I haven't seen before. So I'm thankful to her to be able to walk in a theater, see somebody that looks like me, somebody that sings like us, somebody that, and then it creates that space for that new Allie, for that new Davis, for that up and coming. And then I must also say, it's super sidebar, I have demo-itis. So when we had Malia Joy Moon, who also won the Tony for our band. That's right. Shout out to her. I'm like, you know, in my head, I'm like, where we find this girl? There is nothing. That's right. But then we have from our understudies to our new Allie, Ms. Amanda Reed, to our touring Allie. There are so many talented, Malia Drake, so many talented, beautiful black sisters that are playing this role that elevate themselves and elevate our story in a whole another way. So we are, it's insane. People are like really waiting to see this on tour and on Broadway for them to be inspired to be the next Allie. And it's the other part that you said in terms of like the changing of lives and the feeling of it all. Like I have real relationships. You know what I mean? Like Jade is on my album. Jay Malone. She literally is so outrageous. I said, you are coming. When I did my last line and I said, I got a girl that, but we're going to be in LA writing. And I did that in the play. I was, she thought I was playing. I said, no, no, no, no, I'm flying you out and we're working. That's sick. Phil came out. I'm like, Phil was moving around and I was like, you got to get in here, get some of this. We, we're right over here and they, they've been to the house. Like I just, I just talked to Jessica. Like I talked to Amanda. I have relationships that I will have for life. That's so beautiful. They're incredible. That's really a real, this is a real thing. You killed me. And this is a beautiful thing. You, you, you, you. Yes, man. I know. Top five. That's the one. Yeah. Yeah. What are you? I was a member. You said, I really appreciate all of the beautiful energy. Sick. There you go. There you go. Ladies and gentlemen, Adam, where's your bass, man? Listen, we might have to get the whole way to the top five. Why are you bringing that? Here we go. As you notice, I don't use a sustained pedal. That's hard. With this Cassium like that. That's real hard. Is that a flex? No, that is a flex. Yes, it is. Nah, it is a flex. But where's the, where's the sustained coming from now? Cremon high. Hey, Kater, people want some information from you. That's Cremon high. Oh man. They know that you are a product of a lot of amazing music, a lot of great artists. You, you are well studied. And the people want to hear it from you. Tell them what they, ask them what they want to know. What do they want to know? They want to know your. He really is an actor. Yeah, I know for sure. Like, dang. Yes, sir. You're top five. Yeah. Top five. Let's go. You're top five. R&B singers. R&B songs. C'mon, all right, all right. Yeah. We've got to know before you go. We're on the show and everybody know you're top five. Yes. Very well, very well. You're top five. Hey. Let's go, man. Let's go, man. Make sure you all catch him. Make sure you all catch him on Broadway. And have a good day. That was, that's that. Oh, that's different. That's not easy what you just did. Yeah, that was. This is a real small piano. Like, it's not easy to get that much cover. Out of that little thing. Out of that thing. Yeah, yeah. I learned no one of these. So, I remember. You can catch him on Broadway and in the subway. Doing that. You can see that in the old 50s and the 80s. Wow. First of all, top five is so hard. Who can do top five? You can. You can. You can. You can. Top five. Top five. You can do whatever you want. Singers. You can actually do whatever. That's true. That's true. You can do it. It's really hard for me. Oh. It's really hard for me. So, for sure, for sure, I'm going to go with Shade. Yeah. Come on. Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. You know what's crazy? Almost wore Shade shirts today. No way. No. That would have been wild. That would have been great. Extra. Right? Yeah, nobody else. Jay, he's tripping. He's got a super fan out. You better know. Yeah, hey, bro. Relax, bro. So that's, I mean, she just, I just love people that you can never duplicate. No matter how much you try, you cannot catch her energy and her swag. I mean, for sure, no question about it. Everybody who knows me knows Nina Simone. Everybody knows that Nina Simone, to me, with the classical, the way she can play classical and jazz and just create like that unlimitedness that we were talking about her. For sure, I'm going to have to say Prince. No question about it. Again, that's like that part with the way that you can just be undefinable. Like, you know, just cross all the lines and do anything. You're doing a lot of one of ones. Yes. This is what, to me, this is what, this is it. I'm going to also go for, I feel like she's highly underrated. But if you know, you know, Patrice Russian. Yes. Come on now. Come on now. Come on now. You know, you know me. Yeah. Oh, we know that. Do your Google's kids. The keys, those like copyrights, the things that you didn't even know you were singing. That's right. When my deep sample, Patrice Russian, I was, it was like, whoa, that changed my whole thing. Yeah. Like that was big for me. Is that four? That's four. That's four. That's four. And the fifth one, once you said Michael Jackson, I said, I can't leave Michael Jackson off, but I decided, although we don't even, he don't even need to be on the list and we know. He's on his own. Like, you know, he's the list. He's the list. He's the list. He's the list. So, the name you said earlier, that to me, I feel like Ann Nesby. Ooh. Whee. I feel like that voice, that, that energy, that classicness, like, just being able to hear music that just pulls you right from that heart. So, that's going to be my top five today. That's today. That's my top five today. It changed. It changed too. It's a real hard choice. That was tough. Nina Simone's, this stuff. Tough. I was late to the Nina Simone train. I didn't, I didn't learn about Nina Simone until I was out of high school. Yeah, but once you discovered. But once I did, you're locked in. I was locked. You're like, what? Nobody like her. Nobody. She taps into a different place. Give me your top five R&B song. Okay, that's really hard too. It's just not right. Come on, you can do it. You can do it. It's just not right. You have, you have five. You took 13 years. You're about to say you. That kind of long right there. You just named yours and get on out of here. What do you think about that? Well, I'll definitely, you know, adore my prince one of my favorite all times. I wish I wrote it. I will say they won't go where I go. Stevie Wonder. This song. Like you can't even believe how that sounds. Gosh. I'm going to say cherish the day because we got her shirt on and like I could just play that. Every day, all day. Every, I could play it for 100 hours. She got the best writing music. Man, what? Like just you drive with it. You just drive. You just drive with it. Makes it very easy to get wherever you got to go. I'm going to say if I got you. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. That's really good. I got you. I, I, I sing this song. You try. Why are you killing me? You ain't quite at least you. You're here. You're here. I mean, that's a. I mean, that's a. He do runs like you ain't never heard. How do you do those runs like that? Man. Just find the space, learning it and then find the space. Right. That part. I think that was four. I'm cheating so far. No, that's four. No, that's four. I just want the last one to be like I'm going to go for, I'm going to go for all night long, Mary Jane Girls. It works. That's what I'm going to do. That is. That's amazing. That's amazing. When you play that song. Oh, yeah. You can't even help it. So that's not that's my fifth one. You are. Wow. That's my fifth one. That is a wild card. That's my fifth one. But it is incredible. It's a good one. That's my fifth one. That was very unexpected. Yeah. No, I haven't. No, I've never heard that. That's a good one. This is the first time that's been put in the top five. I'm dancing. I'm dancing though. As it's happening. The bass line going crazy. Yeah. Yeah. And those vocals, they're killing it. It's sitting in the pocket. It just, it takes me back to 97 being on tour with Mary. Oh, yeah. And sing her rock. I mean, I ain't even say Mary songs. Damn. 60. Mary didn't, Mary got to go back into my top five artists list. Wait. Mary took us to school. Too many great artists. Let's make a Voltron. Let's make your super R&B artists. Okay. We're going to pull from characteristics from any artist from since the beginning of time. All righty now. We want to know who you're going to get the vocal from, the performance style from, the styling, the passion of the artist, and who's going to write and produce for this artist. Let's start with the vocal. Find one vocal, one vocal of the history of time. All right. The vocal. Yes. The vocal of the Voltron artist is going to be, is going to be Whitney Houston. Ooh. Yes. All right. There you go. We love that. Yes. You know how much I love you. It's going to be a Rita Frankens as well, but I feel like I'm going to go Whitney Houston. All right. Okay. The performance style. The performance style is going to be a Voltron itself. Okay. See, I have the Voltron or the Voltron. The Voltron, both the Voltron is going to be her. Yes. Yes. And Andre 3000. That's great. That's the performance style. Okay. Okay. With the Whitney Houston voice. The Whitney Houston voice. From earth. That's not fair. I know. It's not from earth. Yeah. All right. That's good. It's like an Anunnaki. Can it have the Dre 3000 perm? Okay. Man, what? That's insane. It's just. Shoulder pass with the perm. Yeah. Guitar. Yeah, guitar. This is the performance style. Yeah. The performance style. Styling. Styling. Styling. I'm going to go for Taiana Taylor. That's the styling. She be cooking. She be cooking. Yeah. She be cooking. She be cooking. Abs. Abs. Abs. Shout out to T. Lies. T. Everything would have ab out. I ain't no joke. Yeah. Never seen abs like that before. It's every day. She put it on. Beautiful thing. Beautiful thing. Yeah. I gotta know how many bags she carrying with her because this don't make no sense. And then the passion of the artist. Oh. The heart. Who means it? All right. The heart of the artist. The passion of the artist. I'm going to go for SZA. I'm going for SZA's passion. Because I feel like she's super honest. I feel like she truly lives in her moment. Like she's, I feel like she speaks like her truly. Really, I feel like that. And I think she's like real special like that. So I'm going for SZA's. She wears it. Like on her sleeve. Yeah. Like I'll kill you. Right. Either way. Whichever version of it, she's very honest. Yes. I might have to kill my ex. I'm going to kill her. In a very chill way though. Yeah. Which is crazy. It's a lullaby. Vulnerable way. Yes. Very. It's scary. Yeah, I don't like it. Um, and then last but not least, who's going to write and produce for this artist? Yeah. Music. Yeah. Why not? Yeah. My try. That's that way. That was fun. I like the Votron's. All right, give me a try. That's really good. Adam, you know, I love you brother. I love you too. I love you too. You are, you are, you are, you are, you are, you are, you are just a special human being. Man, incredible. And your gift is out of this world. Incredible. I, I, I love how you do it. Thank you. And his own music is amazing. Thank you very much. All the Grammy Noms and all the things we got going on. Do you got to, you got yet? You, you, you, how close are you? No, I'm, I'm, I'm two away. Two away. Okay, okay. We're going to get them. So what, what, what we missing? Hell's Kitchen, the movie 2032 or something. No. Okay, 2032. We not waiting that long. Okay, well, all right, all right. Well, whatever. What's it? 2029. No, well, 2029. 2029. Let me the door made in the movie or something. You got it. You want to be the door man. I was like, I'm gonna get you now. Like, come on in. It's a door man. There is a door man. There is a door man. You're in the play-doh. There is a door man. It's me. But now I thank y'all man. I, I'm, I feel blessed to do music. It has the power to heal. It has the power to unite. You know, being with artists like you and Alicia and Jay always allow me to be vulnerable in the music. I, I text y'all all random types of night. She don't sleep. So we text four or five, six in the morning with an idea, but also it's like very thought out because her vision is so, just so wide. And when you execute it, you may not understand it. Sometimes we talk about set list the other day. Yes. And I'm like, what about this song? She's like, nah, this song. I'm like, oh yeah, that song. You write about yourself. You know you. You know you. And so I just, you know, it has taught me this whole Broadway process even has just taught me to be open to new things to, but also still push boundaries and trust yourself. Trust your own creativity and it helps to have somebody that trusts you with her. So this is my partner in crime and I'm excited man. Music means so much to me. So thank you all for having me. No man. Thank you, bro. Miss Alicia Keys. Yeah. This is beautiful. You are. This is so good. You showing us that things are possible. Everything is possible. Things are possible. Yeah. Whatever we come up with, all these crazy ideas as artists that we have in our mind. It can happen. You're bringing it to the world. Thank you man. Thank you. Thank you. And what you're doing for, you know, for little girls. All the way to the women alike. You know, showing them that beauty is not always in the extras. It's just, it's what's in you. Mmm. That's it. Showing them a leader. A prayer. Yeah. God first. She gonna pray you down. I'm sorry. We gonna, before we hit that stage, we gonna talk to the most high for a show. Like that is a mother, a wife. You're pretty awesome. Thanks man. You're pretty awesome. I feel the same about you. Thank you. Yeah, thank you. Everybody in this room. We thank you. Really good. That has so much fun. I'm so glad we did this. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Tank. Hey. And this is the R&B Money Podcast, the authority on all things R&B. This is Adam Blackstone. This is him. And sitting just two more feet away is the Elijah Gaines. Yeah. This how we shit. This how they sit at Broadway. This how I be wanting to sit at Broadway. Hey there. This is Josh from Stuff You Should Know with a message that could change your life. The Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring Podcast playlist is available now. Whether Spring has sprung in your neck of the woods yet or not, the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist will make you want to get your overalls on, get outside, and get your hands in the dirt. You can get the Stuff You Should Know ThinkSpring playlist on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go. Our I Heart Radio Music Awards are coming back Thursday, March 26th live on Fox. Watch as we honor the biggest stars from all genres of music that you love listening to all year long on your favorite I Heart Radio station and the I Heart Radio app. Hosted by Ludacris. Icon Award recipient John Mellencamp. Innovator Award recipient Miley Cyrus. With performances by Alex Warren, Kailani, Lainey Wilson, Ludacris, Ray, TLC, Salt and Kappa, and Invoke. Plus Taylor Swift makes her first award show appearance this year. Also Gold Medal Olympian Alyssa Liu, Neo, Nick Coleshaar Singer, Nikki Glaser, Sombra, Weezer, and more. Watch live on Fox Thursday, March 26th. At 8, 7 Central. And listen on I Heart Radio stations across America and the free I Heart app. This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed human.