Deborah Hobson
US Grammy award winning songstress Alicia Keys, best known for her soulful and inoffensive romantic ballads, has revealed a darker side to her character in an outspoken interview about rap music and the murders of Black people.
Speaking to American music and gossip magazine Blender, Keys, 27, attacked the US government, blaming it for 'gangsta rap' and of using this type of music as 'a ploy to convince Black people to kill each other'. She also accused US politicians of having a hand in the deaths of idolised rap artists Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G (Biggie Smalls). A number of conspiracy theories have surrounded the unsolved murders of the two iconic rappers.
Keys claims that the much publicised feud between Shakur and Smalls was fuelled 'by the government and the news media, to stop another great Black leader from existing'. Controversially, previously mild-mannered Keys is alleged to have told Blender that she wears an AK-47 pendant 'to symbolise strength, power and killing 'em dead'.
And, indicating a change of direction, the singer-songwriter states that she wants to pen more political songs in the future. She said: "If Black leaders such as the late Black Panther Huey Newton had the outlets our muscians have today, it'd be global. I have to figure out a way to do it myself."
See Chris Gaynor's blog 'Gangsta Rap' Conspiracy Theory.
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