The “Girl on Fire” is looking to elevate and empower other women in the music industry. Alicia Keys has revealed that she’s working on a new initiative to “further female career progression,” according to Ebony.
Keys announced the She Is the Music initiative at a National Music Publishers Association event, where she accepted its Icon Songwriter award. “I’ve joined forces with a group of really powerful female executives, songwriters, artists, engineers, producers, and publishers to help reshape the industry that we all love by creating real opportunities and a pipeline of talent for other women,” she said.
The fifteen-time Grammy winner explained, “We want to create a model for change that affects women across all industries. We deserve the utmost respect, and so many of these women across industries are telling our culture that time is up on double standards, and it is it’s over for pay inequity and colleagues who are at best disrespectful and at the worst unsafe — so it’s over for that.”
Citing a USC Annenberg study, Keys referenced the fact that “of almost 3,000 pop songwriters credited last year only 12 percent were female, only 3 percent of the engineers were female, and one of them is Ann [Mincieli, Keys’ regular engineer]. Only 2 percent of producers are female and one of them is me! Our world is 50-50, and it’s time for our industry to reflect that,” she urged.
Keys name-dropped #TimesUp and spoke about the ongoing fight for equal pay. “We deserve the utmost respect, and so many of these women across industries are telling our culture that time is up on double standards,” she said, “and it is over for pay inequity and colleagues who are at best disrespectful and at the worst unsafe – so it’s over for that.”
The “In Common” singer emphasized the importance of inclusion in the music industry, and particularly the voices of women of color. “Songwriters tell our stories, they sing who we are as people — don’t we all want to hear from all of us?” she asked. “My ancestors’ spiritual songs told their stories and gave them strength, and we’re all stronger because of it,” Keys observed, identifying Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin among the artists who have influenced her. The singer-songwriter, producer, and pianist also celebrated contemporary female artists such as Janelle Monáe and Mary J. Blige.
Keys has previously said that she inherited her feminism from her mother, who taught her to “care deeply and strongly about other women.” She observed, “Until we’re in those rooms as equally as men are, it can’t shift, We have to infiltrate our industries. Period. We have to. That alone will shift the power balance.” The She Is the Music initiative seems to be geared towards accomplishing just that.
