American R&B
singer-songwriter Alicia Keys will be performing once again for her Filipino
fans on August 5 at the SM Mall of Asia concert grounds. The superwoman behind the hits "No One," "Diary," "If I Ain't Got You,"
and "Fallin'" performs for this special event under the MTV Philippines Concert
Series.
Opening the show titled As I Am is the country's"King of R&B"Luke Mejares, and L.A.'s DJ Mighty Dunx, popularly known in the country as Duncan Ramos, the former vocalist of South Border.
Alicia Keys is a multi-talented and multi-awarded artist best known for
her solid songwriting, a vast dynamic range, thundering rhythms, and vocal
harmonies. TIME magazine named Alicia as one of "The Most
Influential People in the World" in 2005.
At age of 27, Alicia
is an eleven-time Grammy Award winning artist whose debut record Songs In A
Minor went on to sell more than 10 million copies. Alicia's critically
acclaimed follow-up album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, has already sold
over 7 million copies worldwide. Her third album, simply titled Unplugged, debuted at number one and has
sold one million copies in the United States and two million copies worldwide.
Last year, Alicia released her latest album, As I Am, which has
sold over one million copies in two weeks of its debut. Furthermore, the lead
single, "No One" earned Alicia the awards for Best Female R&B Vocal
Performance and Best R&B Song at the 2008 Grammy Awards.
Not only is Alicia an extraordinary musician and best selling author and ingenious producer, Alicia is also a humanitarian and philanthropist. As one of the ambassadors for the charity Keep A Child Alive, Alicia has raised funds and awareness to provide lifesaving AIDS/HIV medicines to children in Africa.
This concert marks the second time that Luke Mejares will be sharing the stage with the female R&B artist. Luke opened the show for Alicia Keys' first gig here in Manila four years ago.
Luke left South Border and came up with his solo album in 2004. Titled Stop Luke and Listen, this album spawned the hits "Paano Na" and "214" that earned for Luke the Philippine Hiphop Award as Male R&B Artist of the year in 2005. His second album, Pangako, has 11 songs that express the positive things happening in his life. It has taken him three years to release a follow up to his debut album because Luke wanted to bring out his creativity for this CD released under Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Pangako also marks Luke's debut as an album producer.
Another South Border former front-liner will be headlining the Alicia Keys As I Am tour. Duncan Ramos, who has been in the U.S. for quite some time now, will be staying in the Philippines for a series of shows including a performance to open the Alicia Keys concert.
Duncan joined South Border in 2002 while sharing vocal duties with Vince Alaras. The two new talents danced and sang their way to fame. They provided a fresh and youthful take on South Border, giving the band gigantic commercial success with hits such as "Rainbow" and "Ikaw Nga." In 2004, the band released their first album under their own independent label. Episode III featured an edgier, danceable R&B sound that included songs such as "The Show" and "Brown Hand Smash."
For tickets to this triple-header concert, call TicketWorld at 891-9999. For more information, keep tuning in to MTV Philippines on Sky Cable channel 57 or log on to www.mtvphil.com.