People News

Alicia Keys is full of baloney

By M&C People Apr 12, 2008, 16:34 GMT

Alicia Keys thinks there is a conspiracy that "made" gangsta rap. Blame the white man for gangsta rap? Keys PLEASE! EPA/STEFFEN SCHMIDT

Blame the white man for gangsta rap? Keys PLEASE! EPA/STEFFEN SCHMIDTThe Grammy-winning singer-songwriter told Blender magazine: "'Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. 'Gangsta rap' didn't exist."Keys, 27, is a reader of several Black Panther autobiographies and she wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck "to symbolize strength, power and killing 'em dead," according to an interview in the magazine's May issue, on newsstands Tuesday.Who the 'em stands for was not made clear.She also theorizes that the east coast west coast feud between dead rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. was fueled "by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing."Aha! The 'em is the man!Keys' AK-47 jewelry came as a surprise to her mother, who is quoted as telling Blender: "She wears what? That doesn't sound like Alicia." Keys' publicist, Theola Borden, told the AP that Keys was "on vacation and unavailable for comment."Though she's known for her romantic tunes, she told Blender that she wants to write more political songs. If black leaders such as the late Black Panther Huey Newton "had the outlets our musicians have today, it'd be global. I have to figure out a way to do it myself," she said.