Soul classics and stepmother celebrations: Alicia Keys’ 20 best songs – ranked!
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- "If I Ain't Got You" (2003) tops the ranking as Keys' most popular song with more than 1.5 billion Spotify streams; the source reveals she nearly gave it to Christina Aguilera, believing "I'll write a hundred more like that," until her A&R convinced her to keep it
- "Fallin'" (2001) is ranked as Keys' breakthrough, released after a failed 90s major-label deal; the source suggests the forcefulness of her vocal reflects her awareness it might be her last chance
- "No One" (2007) is singled out as featuring what the source calls the single best studio vocal performance Keys has ever captured — "no fireworks, just pure wrenching emotion from the opening note"
- "Blended Family (What You Do for Love)" (2016) ft A$AP Rocky is highlighted as a rare pop song celebrating stepmotherhood, with the source noting it is hard to think of many others on the topic, and sampling Edie Brickell's "What I Am"
- "Underdog" (2020), co-written by Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge, took on fresh potency when Covid was declared a pandemic two months after its release, though the source says its hopeful message stands without that context
- "Skydive (Unlocked)" (2021) represents an experiment in packaging two versions of the same album — one traditional, one beat-heavy — with Mike WiLL Made-It's bumping rework winning by a fraction
- "Empire State of Mind Part II (Broken Down)" (2009) is Keys' solo piano reworking of the Jay-Z collaboration, which the source describes as more romantic and glossy than the swaggering original, "closer to a show tune"
Why it matters: Keys' catalog spans two decades of stylistic pivots — from Suzuki-method classical piano training to 80s synth-pop and Mike WiLL Made-It hip-hop beats — but the ranking hinges on a single A&R intervention that prevented her from giving away "If I Ain't Got You," now her most-streamed track at 1.5bn+ Spotify plays and the closest thing to a definitive modern soul standard.
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