The Element of Freedom

chronology
The Element of Freedom
Alicia Keys studio album
Publication ; (s)	2009
Label (s)	J Records
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	Contemporary R&B , soul
Title (number)	14th
running time	52:55 minutes
production	Alicia Keys; Crucial Keys; Rich Harrison; Swizz Beatz; Mark Batson; Jeff Bhasker;
September 22, 2009	Doesn't mean anything
November 17, 2009	Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart
January 19, 2010	Put It in a Love Song
February 22, 2010	Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down
May 28, 2010	Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)
December 12, 2010	Wait Til You See My Smile

The Element of Freedom is the fourth studio album by the American R&B singer Alicia Keys . It was released on December 11, 2009 on the J Records label and sold around two million copies in the US and around four million copies worldwide.

At the same time as the standard edition, a deluxe version was released, on which two bonus tracks were found and a DVD was also included.

Emergence

After the first two singles Doesn't Mean Anything and Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart were pre-released, The Element of Freedom was released in December 2009. Keys worked on production with Kerry "Krucial" Brothers as well as with Jeff Bhasker ( Kanye West , Jay-Z ), who already won a Grammy as a producer . Keys emphasized in an interview that the album shows a strong and a vulnerable side:

"The music is really strong, and the drums are really aggressive, but my voice is vulnerable and delicate."

Album versions

Original version

The original version of The Element of Freedom was released on December 11, 2009 in Germany, Ireland and Australia, and one day later in the USA, the UK and Canada. It is 52:55 minutes long and contains the following songs:

Element of Freedom (Intro) (Alicia Keys) - 0:12
Love is Blind (Alicia Keys, Jeff Bhasker) - 3:49
Doesn't Mean Anything (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers) - 4:32
Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart (Alicia Keys, Jeff Bhasker) - 4:09
Wait Til You See My Smile (Alicia Keys, Jeff Bhasker) - 4:01
That's How Strong My Love Is (Alicia Keys) - 4:04
Un-Thinkable (Alicia Keys, Aubrey Drake Graham ) - 4:09
Love Is My Disease (Alicia Keys, Toby Gad) - 4:01
Like The Sea (Alicia Keys, Jeff Bhasker) - 4:13
Put It In A Lovesong featuring Beyoncé (Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz ) - 3:15
This Bed (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers) - 3:45
Distance And Time (Alicia Keys, Kerry Brothers) - 4:27
How It Feels To Fly (Alicia Keys) - 4:42
Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down (Alicia Keys, Jay-Z ) - 3:36

Note: The songwriters are named in brackets after the respective song .

Bonus tracks

17. Stolen Moments - 4:52
18. Heaven's Door - 3:18
19. Lover Man - 3:17
20. Almost There - 3:37

Deluxe Edition

The Element of Freedom Deluxe Edition was released at the same time as the normal edition and contains two bonus tracks and a DVD.

Bonus tracks:

16. Through It All - 4:28
15. Pray For Forgiveness - 4:44

Bonus DVD:

Doesn't Mean Anything (Intimate "Acoustic" Studio Performance)
Empire State of Mind (part ll) Broken Down (Intimate "Acoustic" Studio Performance)
Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart (Intimate "Acoustic" Studio Performance)
No One (Intimate "Acoustic" Studio Performance)
Doesn't Mean Anything (music video)

Chart success

album

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	10 (36 weeks)	36
Austria (Ö3)	23 (9 weeks)	9
Switzerland (IFPI)	1 (38 weeks)	38
United Kingdom (OCC)	1 (69 weeks)	69
United States (Billboard)	2 (43 weeks)	43

Singles

The most successful single from the album was Doesn't Mean Anything , which was already available before the album was released.

The third single Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Heart is a continuation of the hit with Jay-Z Empire State of Mind . Although this title only reached middle positions in the sales charts, it was able to place itself in Germany for a full 38 weeks without interruption. In the following years, the title developed into a popular song at appearances in casting shows , which allowed the single to be placed in the charts again and again and with currently 53 chart weeks (as of January 2013) the most frequently placed solo single by Alicia Keys in Germany is. A cover version by Kim Sanders also made it into the German charts in February 2012.

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
year	Title album	DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B	Remarks
2009	Doesn't Mean Anything The Element of Freedom	DE8 (13 weeks) DE	AT15 (11 weeks) AT	CH5 (14 weeks) CH	UK8 (18 weeks) UK	US60 (10 weeks) US	R&B14 (20 weeks) R&B	First published: September 22, 2009
2009	Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart The Element of Freedom	DE33 (8 weeks) DE	AT57 (3 weeks) AT	CH21 (13 weeks) CH	UK7 (24 weeks) UK	US27 (20 weeks) US	R&B2 (27 weeks) R&B	First published: November 17, 2009
2010	Put It in a Love Song The Element of Freedom	-	-	-	-	-	R&B60 (11 weeks) R&B	First published: January 19, 2010 with Beyoncé
	Empire State of Mind (Part II) - Broken Down The Element of Freedom	DE35 (53 weeks) DE	AT55 (6 weeks) AT	CH19 (27 weeks) CH	UK4 (56 weeks) UK	US55 (1 week) US	R&B76 (13 weeks) R&B	First published: February 22, 2010
	Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready) The Element of Freedom	-	-	-	-	US21 (20 weeks) US	R&B1 (59 weeks) R&B	First published: May 28, 2010
	Wait Til You See My Smile The Element of Freedom	-	-	-	-	-	-	First published: 2010

Awards

Alicia Keys' album The Element of Freedom sold around four million copies worldwide and became her first number one album in the UK and her first to fail to make it to number one on the Billboard Top 200. It was awarded platinum in Canada, Switzerland, Poland, France and the USA, and it achieved gold status in Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and Australia. The most successful single release is Un-Thinkable . It reached number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the US R&B charts, where it stayed at number one for twelve weeks. This makes this Alicia Keys' most successful song as well as the most successful R&B song of 2010.

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA)	gold	35,000
Germany (BVMI)	gold	100,000
France (SNEP)	platinum	100,000
Italy (FIMI)	gold	30,000
Japan (RIAJ)	gold	100,000
Canada (MC)	platinum	80,000
Netherlands (NVPI)	gold	25,000
Poland (ZPAV)	platinum	20,000
Switzerland (IFPI)	platinum	30,000
Spain (Promusicae)	gold	30,000
United States (RIAA)	platinum	1,600,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	3 × platinum	900,000
All in all	6 × gold 8 × platinum	3,050,000

Main article: Alicia Keys / Music Sales Awards

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b The Element Of Freedom. aliciakeysmedia.com, accessed September 13, 2012 .
↑ ^a ^b Alicia Keys To Release The Element Of Freedom In December. MTV, accessed on May 18, 2011.
↑ ^a ^b The Element of Freedom (Deluxe Edition). iTunes , December 11, 2009; accessed September 13, 2012 .
^ Ace Search. ASCAP, accessed September 13, 2012 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
↑ Chart history of Alicia Keys ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on chartsurfer.de; Retrieved Jan. 18, 2013 @1@ 2

↑ Chart sources for The Element of Freedom : DE AT CH US UK

↑ Gold / Platinum Award Sources: Canada ; Switzerland ; Poland ; France ( Memento des original from November 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; United States (Find Keys, Alicia ) ; Germany (search for The Element Of Freedom at the parameter title ) ; Italy ( Memento of the original from April 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 275 kB); Japan ; Spain (PDF; 104 kB); Australia @1@ 2 @1@ 2
↑ Fall Preview. Billboard, accessed September 13, 2012 (English): "The upcoming project is the follow-up to 2009's The Element of Freedom, which has sold 1.5 million copies and features the hit" Unthinkable (I'm Ready) ", which spent 12 weeks atop the Hot R & B / Hip-Hop Songs chart. "
↑ Shirley Halperin: Alicia Keys Signs with Guy Oseary and Ron Laffitte. In: Billboard . June 18, 2014, accessed October 29, 2015 .

[aliciakeysmedia-1] The Element Of Freedom. aliciakeysmedia.com, accessed September 13, 2012 .

[mtv-2] Alicia Keys To Release The Element Of Freedom In December. MTV, accessed on May 18, 2011.

[itunes_de-3] The Element of Freedom (Deluxe Edition). iTunes , December 11, 2009; accessed September 13, 2012 .

[4] Ace Search. ASCAP, accessed September 13, 2012 .

[charts-5] Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US

[6] Chart history of Alicia Keys ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on chartsurfer.de; Retrieved Jan. 18, 2013 @1@ 2

[7] Chart sources for The Element of Freedom : DE AT CH US UK

[8] Gold / Platinum Award Sources: Canada ; Switzerland ; Poland ; France ( Memento des original from November 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; United States (Find Keys, Alicia ) ; Germany (search for The Element Of Freedom at the parameter title ) ; Italy ( Memento of the original from April 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 275 kB); Japan ; Spain (PDF; 104 kB); Australia @1@ 2 @1@ 2

[9] Fall Preview. Billboard, accessed September 13, 2012 (English): "The upcoming project is the follow-up to 2009's The Element of Freedom, which has sold 1.5 million copies and features the hit" Unthinkable (I'm Ready) ", which spent 12 weeks atop the Hot R & B / Hip-Hop Songs chart. "

[10] Shirley Halperin: Alicia Keys Signs with Guy Oseary and Ron Laffitte. In: Billboard . June 18, 2014, accessed October 29, 2015 .


Studio albums	Songs in A Minor (2001) • The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003) • As I Am (2007) • The Element of Freedom (2009) • Girl on Fire (2012) • Here (2016)
Live albums	Unplugged (2005)
Compilation albums	The Platinum Collection (2010)
Singles	Fallin '(2001) • A Woman's Worth (2002) • How Come You Don't Call Me (2002) • Girlfriend (2002) • You Don't Know My Name (2003) • If I Ain't Got You (2004 ) • Diary (2004) • Karma (2004) • Unbreakable (2005) • Dont Give Up (Africa) (2005) • Every Little Bit Hurts (2006) • No One (2007) • Like You'll Never See Me Again ( 2007) • Teenage Love Affair (2008) • Superwoman (2008) • Another Way to Die (2008) • Doesn't Mean Anything (2009) • Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart (2009) • Put It in a Love Song (2010 ) • Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down (2010) • Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready) (2010) • Wait Til You See My Smile (2010) • Girl on Fire (2012) • Brand New Me ( 2012) • New Day (2013) • Fire We Make (2013) • Tears Always Win (2013) • Better You, Better Me (2013) • It's On Again (2014) • We Are Here (2014) • 28 Thousand Days ( 2015) • In Common (2016) • Back to Life (2016) • Blended Family (What You Do for Love) (2016)
Featurings	My Boo (2004) • Empire State of Mind (2009)