You’ve never seen Alicia Keys like this before.
The 35-year-old 15-time Grammy winner and activist has emerged in recent weeks without an ounce of makeup and according to her Lenny Letter essay, she grew tired of hiding imperfections and the pressure to be perfect.
“I was finally uncovering just how much I censored myself, and it scared me,” Keys said about writing songs for her upcoming album. “Who was I anyway? Did I even know HOW to be brutally honest anymore? Who I wanted to be?”
An album photoshoot with photographer Paola Kudacki further propelled the makeup-free trend and gave new meaning to a song she penned called “When a Girl Can’t Be Herself.”
Keys said she walked onto the set, fresh from the gym and wearing a scarf under a baseball cap, when Kudacki got inspired by her minimal look.
“I have to shoot you right now, like this!” Keys said Kudacki told her. “This music is raw and real, and these photos have to be too!”
“It was the strongest, most empowered, most free, and honestly beautiful that I have ever felt,” Keys said. “I felt powerful because my initial intentions realized themselves. My desire to listen to myself, to tear down the walls I built over all those years, to be full of purpose, and to be myself!”
The finished product is the promotional artwork for her project and single.
Husband Swizz Beatz loves his wife’s new minimal look too. He posted a photo on Instagram from her recent Vanity Fair shoot, saying, “You look 19 without makeup… My fave pic #VanityFair… the fact that this is a new pic.”
“I hope to God it’s a revolution,” Keys added. “‘Cause I don’t want to cover up anymore. Not my face, not my mind, not my soul, not my thoughts, not my dreams, not my struggles, not my emotional growth. Nothing.”