Of course, we had gotten better and we had grown, me as a producer, her as a producer, even songwriting, so for the second album it was back to business. If that first album did well they were finally allowed to do what they wanted to do which might have been different from what the label might have wanted them to do to get attention. We had the confidence because a lot of artists that get that 'sophomore jinx' are people who didn’t have control over their first album. We just always tuned it out and went back to our favorite classic albums and used that for inspiration. That was the main thing because during each album process we didn't listen to any of the current music or radio. We did what we wanted to do the first album, let's just do it again and let's try this new stuff we learned too. After that, people would ask 'How do you feel about the second album? Are you worried about the sophomore jinx?' And we never had that, there was never any of that pressure. Blige, it didn't sound like Erykah Badu, it didn't sound like Missy Elliott. It was a combination of hip-hop, jazz, R&B, classical, and soul, but it was a new combination of it. 'During the time we definitely loved what we did and I didn't think everybody would get it right away because of the setbacks with Columbia and them not understanding it because it was unique for its time. Speaking on the subject, album contributor Kerry Brothers, Jr. Due to the extreme popularity of Songs in A Minor, there was a lot of pressure on The Diary of Alicia Keys to match or exceed that success. Keys embarked on the Songs in A Minor Tour (2001–2002) in support of the album while touring, Keys started writing songs for her second studio album. Debuting atop the US Billboard 200, it went on to sell over 6.2 million copies and earned Keys five Grammy Awards at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards, tying Keys with Lauryn Hill as the female artist with most Grammy Awards won in a single ceremony (the record has since been broken by Beyoncé and Adele). Keys' debut studio album Songs in A Minor was released on June 5, 2001. The album has sold over five million units in the United States and over eight million copies worldwide. The Diary of Alicia Keys earned Keys three Grammy Awards at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards. It became Keys' second consecutive number-one debut in the United States and spawned three top-ten singles. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 618,000 copies in its first week.

Upon its release, The Diary of Alicia Keys received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album was recorded at several recording studios, and production was handled primarily by Keys with contributions from Kanye West and Kerry Brothers Jr., who described it as 'an R&B album'.

The Diary of Alicia Keys is the second studio album by American singer Alicia Keys.

Alicia keys diary