An 'Element' to Alicia Keys is something old, something new

A baseball World Series ring is about the only piece of hardware R&B singer-songwriter Alicia Keys hasn't owned in her short but very successful career.

But an argument can be made that her and Jay-Z's rendition of their hit, "Empire State of Mind,'' performed by the duo at Yankee Stadium when the Yanks were down 0-1 to the Phillies last fall, inspired the home team to victory in the games, and the series.

"I don't know if (the Yankees) directly thanked Jay or me in any way, but I know that's what they meant, and when they got that ring, they were like "Yes!,' and we dedicate this to Alicia and Jay,'' said Keys in a recent conference call. "We actually should have an honorary ring, I think.''
Yankees fans, we think, will agree.

Keys comes to New Jersey this weekend with shows tonight at the Prudential Center in Newark and Saturday at the arena at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City in support of her latest album, "The Element of Freedom.'' The work, which debuted No. 2 in the nation in December and has sold more than 2 million copies, continues Keys' streak of musical elegance and excellence, but this time does so with a bit of an '80s retro flare. Musical crescendos and swells are more pronounced on "Element'' as compared to previous works, thanks to the use of '80s-style synthesizers. The era's drum machines abound on the album, and the songs also have the decade's theatrical embellishments.