Tag: more myself

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book reviews

Book Review: ‘More Myself’ by Alicia Keys

More Myself: A JourneyMore Myself: A Journey by Alicia Keys
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

More Myself by Alicia Keys is a memoir by an artist whose wins seem to dominate the losses, making the book less relatable, but she tells her story of striving to lead an inspiring life.

Alicia starts her story of being a girl in a cab with her mother and seeing a sex worker outside in the wintertime. She asks her mother about the woman standing on the corner, and the way her mother answers her question plants a seed for her to remember to work hard for her dreams to come true. She then takes us through her childhood in 1980s and 1990s Hell’s Kitchen in New York City, near Times Square and the theater district. It’s not the neighborhood it is now but one that was riddled with crime where she lived with her single mother, a former actress. She talks about her strained relationship with her father, who she sees seldomly throughout her childhood as he starts another family. As she navigates adolescence in New York City, she’s working on her music with her older music producer boyfriend Kerry “Krucial” Brothers. She lies about her age to him several times as their romantic and career-defining relationship grows. Then she’s offered a record deal simultaneously as an acceptance to Columbia University. She learns quickly she can’t juggle college and music, so she drops school and dedicates herself to become a full-fledged artist. Once her debut album Songs in A Minor drops in 2001, she solidifies her music superstardom.

Actually listening to Alicia’s voice on audiobook brought the story alive, though her hardships seem little compared to her success. For years, she tends to talk about her life in rough New York City with her single mother, but with her piano and singing skills, she’s signed to her first record deal at 15-years-old. That already puts her above the average upbringing in that same scenario. Unlike Jessica Simpson’s Open Book where that singer describes hardships before and throughout her career, Alicia’s story fails to come off as relatable to the average reader. It does leave that awe-inspiring glow of “if you stick to your dreams, then your dreams come true,” which we all know does not add up for most people. Alicia’s chapters open up with words from her husband Swizz Beatz, Jay-Z, Clive Davis, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and America Ferrera. Also as well as her father and her ex Krucial, both relationships she has repaired to the point they’re willing to contribute vocal notes to her audiobook. Again, not the most relatable move but could be seen as inspiring. Don’t we all want to repair past relationships so when those people are mentioned in our memoirs they get a say? Maybe, maybe not.

Overall, it’s a positive, not-as-moving portrait of a famous singer who sings on the audiobook at times with her voice really illustrating her story in a more entertaining way.

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music reviews

Reading a Singer’s Memoir? Choose the Audiobook

Mariah Carey is the latest singer to tell her life story in a book that will be formatted into an audiobook she narrates. With singers using their actual voices in their memoirs, the audiobook has become the best format in this booming genre.

Last week, the five-octave diva revealed the title of her memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey. The book will be coming out via Henry Holt & Company’s Andy Cohen Books in the U.S., Pan Macmillan in the U.K., and Audible. The release date is Sept. 29 with Michaela Angela Davis, a well-known Black culture insider, as the co-writer.

 

The next day, as fans chimed on social media about the fate of an audiobook, Mariah confirmed her memoir will be in an audio format, linking to the Audible pre-order page. On Friday, in celebration of the 30th year of her career, she released a new album featuring one of her first concerts at the Tatou Club in New York during her 1990 debut.

Between new music and the audiobook, songstress memoirs are more entertaining to read, as evidenced by Jessica Simpson and Alicia Keys, the other major female artists who also released memoirs this year.

In Harper Collins’ Open Book, Jessica’s voice not only breaks with emotion at the emotional parts, but it also includes six new songs she wrote while writing the book. Her new music is still not available on streaming services as an exclusive for audiobook readers.

More Myself from Macmillan Audio has Alicia expressly telling her story with every chapter guest-starring family and friends from her mother, husband Swizz Beatz, and even ex-boyfriend and collaborator Kerry “Krucial” Brothers Jr. with of course Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama and Jay-Z. She also has spurts of singing to describe how albums or singles came together.

Jessica and Alicia have been promoting their books the best way they can amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but with cases rising in many states, even Mariah may have to deal with the same fate of not meeting fans in public who want their books signed, or their audiobook covers.

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music reviews

The Songstresses Who Have Memoirs Coming Out This Year

JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! Ð ÒJimmy Kimmel Live!Ó airs every weeknight at 11:35 p.m. EST and features a diverse lineup of guests that include celebrities, athletes, musical acts, comedians and human interest subjects, along with comedy bits and a house band. The guests for Wednesday, January 29, included Jessica Simpson (ÒOpen BookÓ), Lakeith Stanfield (ÒThe PhotographÓ), and musical guest Orville Peck. (ABC/Randy Holmes) JESSICA SIMPSON

2020 is looking to be a momentous year for three divas who’ve grown into multihyphenates. After pursuing extraordinary careers with the media capturing the highlights and lowlights, the singers plan to tell their stories, from rocky childhood moments to failed romantic relationships.

Jessica Simpson

The 2000s teenage pop star turned fashion designer has written her memoir, Open Book. According to her book’s official page, she had originally been approached to write a motivational guidebook but felt like she would be lying to her fans.

“I promise to be totally honest with you, so you can feel safe to be honest with yourself, too,” Jessica says in a HarperCollins Publishers promo video for the book.

With the book going on sale last week, the press has focused on the newsmaking details such as Jessica surviving child sex abuse; having an emotional affair with Johnny Knoxville while married to 98 Degrees frontman Nick Lachey; and developing a yearslong diet pill addiction after Tommy Mottola, former Sony Music CEO and Mariah Carey’s ex-husband (see below for her pending memoir), told her to lose 15 pounds when she was 17 years old.

Music note: Jessica’s best album, 2003’s In This Skin, was written while she was in the throes of love with Nick Lachey. It produced some of her best hits: “With You,” “Sweetest Sin,” and the cover of Robbie Williams’ “Angels.” Unreleased gems include “Everyday See You” and “Be.”

Alicia Keys

Fresh off from hosting the Grammy Awards, Alicia plans to soon debut her memoir, More Myself: A Journey. Macmillan Publishers says in the book’s synopsis that Alicia will detail her experiences such as the “challenging and complex relationship with her father, the people-pleasing nature that characterized her early career, the loss of privacy surrounding her romantic relationships, and the oppressive expectations of female perfection.”

The book, co-written by celebrity memoir collaborator Michelle Burford, is under Macmillan’s imprints Flatiron Books and An Oprah Book from Oprah Winfrey. The press around Alicia’s memoir hasn’t started yet for its March 31 release, but it may be due to Flatiron and Macmillan dealing with the firestorm of their literary partner Oprah choosing their best-selling debut novel American Dirt as her book club pick. That book has been criticized for perpetuating stereotypes about Mexico and Mexicans.

Music note: The Diary of Alicia Keys solidified Alicia’s budding career in 2002 after her debut hit, “Fallin’.” This album produced even more hits such as “You Don’t Know My Name,” “Karma,” and the reality TV audition favorite, “If I Ain’t Got You.” Unreleased gems include “Diary” and “If I Was Your Woman.”

Mariah Carey debuts the “mixed-ish” theme song to partygoers in September 2019. (ABC/Image Group LA)

Mariah Carey

Mariah’s highly anticipated memoir will be released under Andy Cohen Books, the Henry Holt and Company imprint by the eponymous Bravo personality.

The singer, who just attained her 19th No. 1 hit with holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is With You,” has not revealed a name for her memoir.

“I did not feel like I was being treated the same as some male artists when I was coming out with my first album,” she told Variety in October. Though she didn’t add details about the industry misogyny from her interview, Mariah may save it for her memoir, along with her tumultuous marriage to Tommy Mottola and her relationship with her estranged father while growing up biracial in New York in the 1970s and 1980s.

Music note: Mariah Carey’s eponymous album from 1990 launched her unbelievable career with her first single, “Vision of Love,” hitting No. 1. It is rumored the title of this song may be the title of her memoir. Other No. 1 hits on this album are “I Don’t Wanna Cry”, “Love Takes Time,” and “Someday.” Unreleased gems include the rest of the album.