'I didn’t feel like myself': Alicia Keys says she found entertainment world difficult to navigate as teen

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Popular American singer Alicia Keys was shot to fame when she was just a teenager. In 2001, the 43-year-old released her debut album 'Songs in a Minor', and the album was a huge hit, notching No 1s like 'Fallin' and earning the star her first five of 16 total Grammy awards, including best new artist.

Keys, who was signed by Columbia Records at the age of 15, told People that she found it hard to navigate, especially as she struggled with constant acne breakouts.

Alicia Keys said she 'felt like I had to conform to everybody’s expectations' 

“I always felt like on top of being a young girl just entering into the music business, exploring, being on television and performing under hot lights and sweating and just [being] in a whole new universe—it was like an alien universe,” Keys said, adding “I didn’t feel like myself. I felt like I had to conform to everybody’s expectation of what they thought I was or should be.”

She continued, "And it really took quite a lot of discipline and a lot of time before I got to the place where I realized that I didn’t have to be this person, that I didn’t have to fulfill other people’s dreams of me. I could actually just be who I am.”

Alicia Keys launched Keys Soulcare in late 2020

In late 2020, Keys launched Keys Soulcare with dermatologist Dr Renee Snyder as a way of helping people honor the connection between skin and soul and be their best selves.

“It’s hard to be [yourself]. Who are you? Who actually are you anyway, most of the time? It’s tricky, especially at the very beginning,” she said, adding “You’re trying to fit in. You want people to like what you’re doing, you want positive feedback. And when you don’t get that, it feels jarring, and it definitely feels uncomfortable.”

Alicia Keys on how she got to know herself better

Keys, whose brand recently partnered with Amazon Premium Beauty, said it was her relationship with beauty that eventually helped her to understand herself better, and recognize that what she calls “toxic energy” was no good for her.

“I didn’t understand that I needed to check in to myself and say, ‘What makes you happy? What’s going to bring you joy? How can you release the things that don’t serve you?’ ” the 'Girl on Fire' singer said.