alicia keys (7 posts)

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All roads lead to Calle 13.

The Puerto Rican hip-hop duo went 5-for-5 at the 10th Latin Grammy Awards, held tonight at Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip.

Along with their second straight win for Best Urban Music Album, Calle 13's René "Residente" Joglar and Eduardo "Visitante" Cabra picked up golden gramophones for Album of the Year, for Los De Atrás Vienen Conmigo, Record of the Year, Best Alternative Song and Best Short Form Music Video.

"To all the people who make music in this moment of independent music, to hell with record labels!" Residente said in accepting the alternative song honor for "No Hay Nadie Como Tu. "This is the moment for those of us who make real music."

An inspirational sentiment, indeed.

Calle 13 also brought the house down with salsa star Rubén Blades on their hit song "La Perla," backed by performers from Cirque du Soleil's Mystère.

Enrique Iglesias, who promised a bilingual album for his next studio effort, presented the 2009 Person of the Year Award to Mexican artist Juan Gabriel. Alicia Keys broke out her musical Spanish for her duet with Alejandro Sanz on "Looking for Paradise." Eva Longoria was also a presenter.

For the complete list of winners, go to LatinGrammy.com.

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Check out the goings-on across the pond in our 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards gallery.

When Jack White and Alicia Keys' new Quantum of Solace theme, "Another Way to Die," was leaked earlier this month, critics pounced, labeling it "underwhelming."

Now with the Yahoo! debut of the music video…well, there's something to be said for consistency.

And, apparently, restraint. The stripped-down footage includes only a glimpse of Daniel Craig's 007 and, in what may be a first for a White-featuring video, not a lick of red.

Unless you count the faces of irate Bond fans.

Tobacco Free Kids

Alicia Keys' Indonesian concert just slapped on the patch.

Philip Morris International, the original sponsor of the Grammy winner's gig in Jakarta tonight, pulled down all its promotional billboards and posters after the singer spoke out against the tobacco company's sponsorship of her show.

Keys was clued in to the company's aggressive sponsorship—featuring the logo and slogans for the brand's A Mild cigarettes—by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

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Here's a match made in…a lab?

With Amy Winehouse long out of commission, Alicia Keys has signed on to lend her sultry, soulful pipes to the new theme song being readied for the upcoming James Bond installment, Quantum of Solace, by alt-rocker Jack White.

The male half of the White Stripes, who wrote and produced the tune, called "Another Way to Die," will also play drums. The film's soundtrack is due out Oct. 28, while the movie itself, the second 007 flick featuring hunky blond Bond Daniel Craig, hits theaters Nov. 7.

Keys' involvement in the production was first reported by E! Online's own Marc Malkin.

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50 Cent is no stranger to drama. And living up to his hardheaded rep, the former drug dealer stirs things up once again—this time with Alicia Keys.

Alicia recently defended her gansta rap quotes in Blender magazine, but apparently the explanation was not enough for Fiddy, who had some major dissing to do.

"I don’t like Alicia Keys no more...If she thinks what they consider [to be] gangsta music is [made] to bring black people down, then I think my s--t falls into that category. I don’t like people who don’t like me."

And from the sound of it, the rapper isn't a fan of her music, either.

"I don’t think that [her] classical s--t is cool. I don’t give a f--k if you can classically play the piano. I haven’t been classically trained, because my upbringing, nobody put me in front of a piano at that time...I could f--king care less about the s--t. So she don’t like the music that embodies the harsh realities because they’re not her realities. She hasn’t been subjected to the same things."

Hmmm...Seems like a pretty safe bet to say that a Beyoncé 'n' Jay-Z-like rapper-R&B star coupling isn't in the works anytime soon for this duo.