D Smoke Remembers Meeting Alicia Keys Prior To Going On Tour With Her

D Smoke recently reflected on how he came to collaborate with Alicia Keys and eventually accompany her on tour. After the release of his debut album Black Habits, Smoke, who won Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow in 2019, got nominated for Best Rap Album and Best New Artist at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.

Smoke claims that she invited Keys to a video shoot after contacting him. Swizz Beatz and Snoop Dogg were also on scene.

“I think I reached out to her as a fan and I thought she would be great to work with,” In a story published on Saturday, HipHopDX quoted him as saying. “I reached out and she invited me to her video shoot. Swizz Beatz was there, Snoop and his wife were there, everybody was there. She had this big, grand piano on his platform in the middle of the room. They were setting up another shot and I asked her if I could get up and play. She was like, ‘Please. Do you.’ So I was going ham into this classical piece, ‘Fantasie Impromptu’ and she’s over there, like, ‘What the f**k?’ She said, ‘N***a, I didn’t know.’ That’s when the wheels started turning and we knew we had to do something.”

Then, throughout the summer, Keys persuaded Smoke to accompany him on THE ALICIA + KEYS WORLD TOUR.

“She invited me to a show as her guest,” he says. “It was like a release party and afterward, I started off playing some classical music piano. Then she started playing some jazz stuff. Then she would play and I would play and it was just a dope musical exchange. So that moment was just a milestone for me because she is one of those people that influenced my artistry. And to be invited to perform with her on the Alicia and the Keys World Tour is just a blessing.”

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