I hate to be the one to say it, but Alicia Keys' debut Songs In A Minor is extremely overrated. It's a true testament to how untalented a lot of the music world is today when everyone goes gaga over a girl who can actually sing and play the piano at the same time. Imagine that, I never would have guessed someone could possess such a skill! Yeah, she can sing and play the piano fine and dandy but I never really got the sense that Songs In A Minor ever carried any real soul to it. There's a big difference between singin' a thing, and feelin' a thing if you catch my drift. But with The Diary of Alicia Keys, I may just have to shut my big mouth because the older and more mature Keys is becoming, the more I'm truly feelin' the soul power from her. Songs like "Heartburn" would make Curtis Mayfield grin from ear to ear, and "If I Was Your Woman/Walk on By" is a great little spin move on an old Burt Bacharach classic. But the heavy artillery of The Diary has got to be current single You Don't Know My Name. The piano is like pure poetry, and that spoken word interlude near the end? Damn sexy! I still don't think Keys is quite there yet, but give her time, because I think she's well on her way to being named right along side names such as Nina Simone, Roberta Flack, and Whitney Houston (pre Bobby Brown that is).