Alicia Keys Reimagines ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ With Orchestra For Netflix’s ‘Queen Charlotte’

May 10, 2023 Pharaoh

Alicia Keys teamed up with Netflix to release a first-of-its-kind orchestral rendition of her 20-year-old classic “If I Ain’t Got You” in celebration of the “Brigerton” prequel series, “Queen Charlotte.”

On Monday, Keys debuted the Queen Charlotte’s Global Orchestra-version of “If I Ain’t Got You” made in celebration of the song’s 20th anniversary and the release of Shondaland’s “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.” In addition to re-recording the song with an orchestral rearrangement from the Vitamin String Quartet for the series’ soundtrack, Keys brought together over 70 female musicians from all over the world to create the first-ever global orchestra made up entirely of women of color.

“The entire idea was quite ambitious,” Keys told Billboard.

“I feel like it’s going to open the minds of many people to realize that women of color belong everywhere and we’ve always been everywhere. It’s magical.”

The all-women orchestra consisted of musicians from South Africa, Barbados, Germany, Sweden, Egypt, and beyond. They all wore 1700s-inspired gowns while playing instruments behind Keys’ vocals and piano playing.

“I know they’re gonna be very emotional when they see it because the women who were there were extremely emotional,” Keys said of the magical performance.

“Our conductor [Ofentse Pitse] said, ‘It feels like when we have an orchestra of all women of color from all over the world, that we’re finally doing something right.’ This is what our ancestors never experienced.”

The conductor, a Tshwane, South Africa, native, and the youngest and first Black African woman to conduct and own an orchestra, recognized the significance of the “historic” moment from the very start.

“I think I knew the importance of it when I was on the airplane, but when I actually got there, it just really changed my perspective of the reason why we are all there,” Pitse said. “We should not just be the first and only ones to do something like this.”

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