Alicia Keys has always felt like she’s "from another planet".
The 39-year-old singer has admitted to feeling like an "outsider" throughout her life, suggesting she doesn’t feel like she belongs in the current era of history.
Alicia – who signed her first recording contract when she was just 15 – shared: "I have felt like an outsider.
"I think I learned along the way how to fit into multiple circumstances in different places, different spaces, different people. But I always felt like I was from another planet or another time, and I didn’t really belong here.
"Like I was somehow dropped in this era and I was like, ‘Wait, how did I get here?’"
Despite this, Alicia – who released her debut album, ‘Songs in A Minor’, back in 2001 – feels at home when she’s making music.
She said: "That’s always been my outlet, that’s always been my safe space.
"The ability to write and discuss what I’m feeling and share that in an intimate way – that’s definitely always been my truth."
Meanwhile, the Grammy-winning star is hopeful that the death of George Floyd and the subsequent reaction will lead to significant social change in the US and elsewhere.
Alicia thinks the response to Floyd’s death is unlike anything she’s seen in her lifetime.
The music star told the BBC: "I don’t think there’s been that consciousness before.
"Many people have just said, ‘too bad that’s going on but that’s not me’ – without really recognising how everybody does participate in the outcome of what’s acceptable and not acceptable.
"And that’s actually part of what I believe is going to transform it and make it completely unacceptable. I look forward to that happening."