http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ibsAEZm...KZu-lQD8VVUAHG0 <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>There's another side to Alicia Keys: conspiracy theorist. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter tells Blender magazine: "`Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. `Gangsta rap' didn't exist." Keys, 27, said she's read several Black Panther autobiographies and wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck "to symbolize strength, power and killing 'em dead," according to an interview in the magazine's May issue, on newsstands Tuesday. Another of her theories: That the bicoastal feud between slain rappers Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. was fueled "by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing." Keys' AK-47 jewelry came as a surprise to her mother, who is quoted as telling Blender: "She wears what? That doesn't sound like Alicia." Keys' publicist, Theola Borden, said Keys was on vacation and unavailable for comment. Though she's known for her romantic tunes, she told Blender that she wants to write more political songs. If black leaders such as the late Black Panther Huey Newton "had the outlets our musicians have today, it'd be global. I have to figure out a way to do it myself," she said.</div>
Wow. I admit that I didn't think of her as another of those bubble-headed entertainers who delude themselves into believing that they understand - well, anything really. Perhaps she was drunk when she said it?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Keys' AK-47 jewelry came as a surprise to her mother, who is quoted as telling Blender: "She wears what? That doesn't sound like Alicia."</div> She's right. That doesn't sound like Alicia.
It's amazing how these Conspiracy theorist believers don't fact check anything. Although a little of what she said about the bicoastal feud was valid. The Media encouraged it a little.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (huevonkiller @ Apr 14 2008, 02:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>It's amazing how these Conspiracy theorist believers don't fact check anything. Although a little of what she said about the bicoastal feud was valid. The Media encouraged it a little.</div> Well, the facts that would dispel their theory are contained in the mainstream media which only exists to further the conspiracy. So they rely upon the sources they trust, which not surprisingly, have the "facts" that support the conspiracy. It really is a hilarious cycle.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Alicia Keys released a statement today in effort to clarify her remarks that we published in part from her interview with Blender magazine. Honestly I would have left it at that. I respected her gangster. She said she wanted to be more political and that was exactly what she was. But in any event here’s what she said: “I feel it is necessary to clarify the comments that were made during my recent Blender magazine interview since they have been misrepresented. Anyone who knows me and my character, knows that I am not a conspiracy theorist or, by implication, a racist. My comments about ‘gangsta rap’ were in no way trying to suggest that the government is responsible for creating this genre of rap music. The point that I was trying to make was that the term was over-sloganized by some of the media causing reactions that were not always positive. Many of the ‘gangsta rap’ lyrics articulate the problems of the artists’ experiences and I think all of us, including our leaders, could be doing more to address these problems including drugs, gang violence, crime, and other related social issues. Additionally, regarding the AK-47 reference, AK-47 is a nickname given to me by some of my friends in jest, as an acronym for Alicia Keys and a metaphor for wowing people with my music and performances, “killing ‘em dead” on stage. The reference was in no way meant to have a literal, political or negative connotation. The recent implications about me are too radical and too dramatic a departure from whom I have continually demonstrated myself to be. I work so hard and give so much of myself to bring about positive change to this world, and I only wish those efforts received as much press and attention as the misinterpretations of the Blender article.”</div>
