Alicia Keys in Miami

Still, she calls the Egypt trip a "pilgrimage," marking a true turning point in her outlook. "Being able to take myself out of my everyday environment, and kind of thrust myself into a brand-new world, to be totally alone, which I was, and to kind of shut off the world and shut out the world for a long period of time," she says, "it was like a self-discovery." Her management and label have felt this change the most, forced now to deal with her exerting greater control over her time.

"I came back and I was just freer. And I was more ready to do everything and anything," Keys says. "I just took all these restrictions off myself and all of these kind of rules and regulations and ways that I was used to creating, and all this crap, and threw them out the window. And I just allowed myself to be vulnerable and free and open, and it created [on As I Am] some of the best music I've ever created yet."

Thierry LeGoues

Alicia Keys can breathe again.

Details

With Ne-Yo. Sunday, May 25. American Airlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $36.75 to $97.25, www.ticketmaster.com

Related Content

• Alejandro Sanz at American Airlines Arena May 9
  May 9, 2013
• Alejandro Sanz: "I Always Wake Up Thinking, One More Day to Conquer"
  May 2, 2013
• Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z Teaming Up For 20/20 Experience Tour, Coming to Miami?
  February 12, 2013
• Ten Reasons the Grammys Actually Didn't Suck
  February 11, 2013
• Five Best Concerts in Miami This Week
  March 5, 2013

More About

• Alicia Keys
• Grammy Awards
• Wu-Tang Clan
• Ne-Yo
• Music Awards

She's not exaggerating.