It’s been just over a decade since Alicia Keys released her multi-platinum debut album, Songs In A Minor, and her popularity and influence has yet to dissipate. In the years since that project climbed the charts, and her first single “Fallin’,” dominated radio waves; the New York native has managed to release three more platinum albums, sell over sold 35 million albums—making her one of the biggest selling female artists of all time—and win a jaw-dropping 14 Grammy Awards.

Today, January 25, marks her birthday, and in celebration Centric’s The Hot 10 has compiled a playlist of some our most beloved hits from the star. Happy Birthday Alicia!

Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Rihanna and Adele racked in some major dollars in 2011, so says Forbes. The publication released its annual Top Earning Women in Music list, and the inclusion of these ladies was certainly no surprise.

Pop’s reigning star Lady Gaga topped the chart this year, earning a staggering $90 million, followed by Taylor Swift (#2), Katy Perry (#3) and Beyonce, who came in fourth with earnings of $35 million, thanks largely in part to her six hit singles, successful tour, fragrances, and endorsments.

Alicia Keys and Britney Spears tied for the #10 spot. The R&B singer, and pop princess both brought in a noteworthy $10 million;  with Keys seeing much of her success from release of her the 10th Anniversary re-release of her debut album, Songs In A Minor; and a tour.

Collectively, the 11 women who made the list brought in a total of $342 million dollars. Check out the full breakdown below:  

1. Lady Gaga – $90 million
2. Taylor Swift – $45 million
3. Katy Perry – $44 million
4. Beyonce – $35 million
5. Rihanna – $29 million
6. Pink – $22 million
7. Carrie Underwood – $20 million
8. Celine Dion – $19 million
9. Adele – $18 million
10. Alicia Keys/Britney Spears – $10 million

Up and coming singer/songwriter Mateo has released his a clip of the video for his new single, “Say It’s So” featuring Alicia Keys. The track is the lead single off his upcoming Love & Stadiums II EP.

Whether you count yourself a fan of Swizz Beatz or not, chances are you have danced to the music he has produced—making his pockets all the more fatter (He’s made $6.5 million so far this year, according to Forbes). From Alicia Keys to Zeebra (he’s a Taiwanese rapper), Swizz has crafted some of music’s biggest hits for some of music’s biggest talents world wide.

Today we celebrate the one man band man with a drink and a two-step on this his 33rd birthday (September 13th). Check out this playlist of tunes from Swizz, currated by yours truly. You can thank me later—Justin Joseph (@iamjustinjoseph)

Check out this full video interview of Swizz on Centric’s “The Hot 10″

Two months ago, Alicia Keys, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the release of her debut album, Songs in A Minor, with a concert at The Beacon Theater. The multi-Grammy Award winning entertainer staged “Piano & I: A One Night Only Event with Alicia Keys”, which saw her performing her landmark album in its entirety.

Check out this recently released behind the scenes video of Alicia prepping for the show:

Swizz Beatz covers Paper Magazine’s annual summer music issue. The producer, who’s new album Haute Living hits stores in September, talks candidly about his music, his public persona—”People are fans of my music more than fans of me, Swizz Beatz, because they don’t know me“—and his superstar wife, Alicia Keys.  

Paper’s Summer Music Issue 2011 is on newsstands now

(New York, NY) The Big Apple’s hometown girl, Alicia Keys, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the release of her debut album, “Songs in A Minor”, with a concert at The Beacon Theater. The multi-Grammy Award winning entertainer has been touring globally staging her “Piano & I: A One Night Only Event with Alicia Keys” series.

Surrounded by candles while seated at the piano, Keys performed the album in its entirety, mixing in covers of DeBarge’s “Stay With Me”, Tupac’s “I Ain’t Mad at Cha”, and Mary J. Blige’s “Real Love.”

Check out a stream of the concert below:

The release of the 10th anniversary deluxe edition of Alicia Keys’ debut album ”Songs in A Minor” is just two weeks away (slated for a June 28 release), and the Grammy Award winning singer is giving fans a preview of the special documentary featured on the three disc collector’s edition of the project.

Beyonce, Whitney Houston, Nicki Minaj, Nas, Dr. Dre, T.I., Drake, Diddy-Dirty Money, Eve, DMX, and Fantasia are just a few names on a laundry list of artists that Grammy Award winning super producer Kasseem Daoud Dean—better known as Swizz Beatz—has worked with.

Producers, like many recording artists, are hot today and gone…today, but for well over a decade, Swizz has managed to remain relevant, served up his signature bombastic tracks to major acclaim and huge returns.

Now married to mega-star Alicia Keys, the New York bred Beatz is gearing up for his second studio album, “Haute Living”, promoting his latest single, “Everyday” featuring Eve, and visiting Centric’s “The Hot 10″ this Saturday for an up-close and personal interview on music and everything in between.

“The Hot 10″  airs every Saturday at 10am/est.

Check out this exclusive behind the scenes photo gallery of Swizz Beatz on the set of Centric’s “The Hot 10″ 

Photography by: Romer Pedron

Prince has been holding it down at The Forum in Los Angeles, and creating some serious pandemonium with his string of performances. The legendary ”When Doves Cry” performer brought Alicia Keys onstage for an emotional performance of his 1982 B-side classic ”How Come You Don’t Call Me”—which Keys covered on her 2001 debut album, “Songs in A Minor”.   

Source: SoulCulture