Alicia Keys Opens Up on Personal Journey to Self-Discovery

According to an article on CBS, news correspondent, Smith, met with the "Fallin'" singer a week before. Smith opens by saying that the singer seems like someone who has "always kind of known herself."

Keys replies that she hears it "a lot" and went to affirm Smith's inquiry if it had been a struggle for her.

"It has, it has, totally. But I think the craziest part is that I didn't know that I didn't know myself," the 39-year-old musician-actress answers. The news article explains that Alicia Keys did some soul-searching, which culminated in her first foray into authorship. The book entitled "More Myself: A Journey" has been described as a "part autobiography, part narrative documentary" in a video announcement posted on the singer's YouTube channel.

In her book, the happily married mother of two can be seen with her "sister, mentor, guide and the QUEEN herself", Oprah Winfrey, whom she credits for helping her share her story. Keys' new book is expected to be released by the end of the month through Oprah's "An Oprah Book" imprint on Flatiron Books

In the exclusive interview, Smith recounts how Keys told her story from the start. She was the result of the relationship between Teresa "Terri" Augello, a paralegal and part-time actress, and Craig Cook, a flight attendant.

As with a 2001 interview with The Guardian, Keys also shared her mother's struggles, being a single mother raising a daughter all by herself in Hell's Kitchen, one of New York's toughest areas.

"Hard, dangerous, difficult, scary" the Grammy award-winning artist shared in the CBS interview. She then went on to express her gratitude for choosing her, but still clarified that she was not happy with the hardships growing up.

"No! I hated it! You kiddin' me?" Keys adds.

Overcoming the odds, Alicia finished high school as valedictorian at age 16. She then started attending Columbia University on a scholarship grant. Coincidentally, she has earned a contract with Columbia Records. While the record company wanted her to follow their direction, Keys managed to call the shots when it came to her music, recalling them, in a past interview with the New York Times, to "being not receptive".

It was also during this period that she started writing her breakthrough single, "Fallin'." She would then appear on various shows such as The Tonight Show and Oprah, before the release of her debut album, "Songs in A Minor," under record producer Clive Davis' J Records.

Keys then recounts how the sudden fame pushed her to try and please everyone, to the point of exhausting herself. It made her pause and think that she has been "going too hard" and "not getting enough sleep."

Alicia then adds that she has to remind herself, even today, that she is "valuable," "important," and that she has to take care of herself.

Alicia Keys has an upcoming seventh album, ALICIA, slated for a May 15, 2020 release under RCA. She has also planned a concert tour for the promotion of her book. Unfortunately, she has announced that her "More Myself" tour and her upcoming album will be postponed in a Twitter post shared two days ago, March 19.