Songs in A Minor
She may be beautiful, but Alicia Keys is a musician first and  foremost. She plants herself firmly behind the piano keys on her debut,  unlike many of the booty-waggin' junior divas who are crowding the R&B;  videoscape these days. Though many of the tracks onSongs in A  Minorare embellished with adolescent angst, this 20-year-old's  substantial, gorgeously soul-drenched alto putties the cracks between  notes with astonishing ease. "Fallin'," the album's first single,  showcases Keys at her best. She wails plaintively and passionately over  rolling blues chords, in the tradition of the greats that this young  talent clearly wants to align herself with--Stevie Wonder,Donny Hathaway,  andAretha Franklin.  She swoops and soars over the spicy, flamenco-fueled melody that opens  "Mr. Mann," one of the many winning tracks gathered here. And she digs  deep into a remake of the belovedPrinceB-side, "How  Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?" packing more heat into her melismatic  wails than most singers twice her age.--Sylvia W. Chan