Alicia Keys has announced a deluxe edition of her 2021 double album KEYS. Dubbed KEYS II, the album arrives Aug. 12, eight months following the release of its original edition.
KEYS II will include a new song on both the Originals side (stripped-down) and the Unlocked side (remixed). Lucky Daye, on a European tour supporting his Candydrip album, appears on side one, on a track titled “Stay.” He also appeared “Come for Me (Unlocked)” with Khalid.
Brent Faiyaz, whose new album Wasteland is out now, is set to make a cameo on disc two for the track “Trillions.” Keys appears on Faiyaz’s recent album as well.
Additionally, sides one and two will each include a previously shared remix of “In Common,” a song released in 2016 for her album Here. The original version peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart in September 2016.
All of the songs from the standard version of KEYS will remain, including “Best of Me (Originals)” and “Best of Me (Unlocked).” That record went to No. 8 on the R&B charts in winter 2022.
Keys also released “LALA (Unlocked)” featuring Swae Lee ahead of releasing KEYS on Dec. 10. She originally debuted the song on Sept. 9 before performing it at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards a few days later.
In a December 2021 profile with Rated R&B, Keys spoke about collaborating exclusively with prolific producer Mike WiLL Made-It on the Unlocked side.
“When you collaborate with people, sometimes it’s great. Sometimes it’s like, no, that’s not working (laughs),” Keys told Rated R&B’s Keithan Samuels. “With Mike, it was really instant. He’s been all in for the whole process on the Unlocked side and really helping to create that sonic. It’s fire. The concept is sick. I loved that we were able to connect like that.”
Before year-end, Keys’ double album KEYS was recognized on Rated R&B’s best R&B albums list of 2021.
This past spring, Keys released “City of Gods (Part II),” a stripped-down version of a song that she originally appeared on with Fivio Foreign and Kanye West. The initial release recently achieved gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Also, in April, Keys’ critically-acclaimed debut album, Songs in A Minor, was added to the National Recording Registry.
“I’m so honored and grateful that Songs in A Minor, the entire album, gets to be recognized as such a powerful body of work that is just going to be timeless,” Keys said in a statement.
Keys will begin her world tour in North America on Aug. 2 at Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre in Charlotte, North Carolina. The multi-date trek runs until Sept. 24, concluding in Nashville, Tennessee. Tickets are available on her official website.
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Alicia Keys’ KEYS II Tracklist
ORIGINALS
1. Plentiful feat. Pusha T.
2. Skydive
3. Best Of Me
4. Dead End Road
5. Is It Insane
6. Billions
7. Love When You Call My Name
8. Only You
9. Daffodils
10. Old Memories
11. Nat King Cole
12. Paper Flowers feat. Brandi Carlile
13. Like Water
14. Stay feat. Lucky Daye
15. In Common Black Coffee Remix
UNLOCKED
1. KEYS
2. Only You
3. Skydive
4. Best Of Me
5. LALA feat. Swae Lee
6. Nat King Cole feat. Lil Wayne
7. Is It Insane
8. Come For Me feat. Khalid & Lucky Daye
9. Old Memories
10. Dead End Road
11. Love When You Call My Name
12. Daffodils
13. Billions
14. Trillions feat. Brent Faiyaz
15. In Common Kaskade Radio Mix
