Remember the Alicia Keys and Beyoncé duet, “Put it in a Love Song”? Remember hearing there was an exotic video in the works? When the pictures came along showing stills of the exotic video shoot in Brazil, anticipation ran high. Then, in a huge anti-climax, nothing; the video never came out, with no explanation as to why…until now.
Alicia recently sat down with Essence magazine and mentioned why the video was shelved…in a round-about way, not going into details:
“Ohhh man! Y’all aren’t going to leave me alone about that! Sometimes with creative things [it] all comes together and it’s (makes perfection kissing noise) and sometimes things almost come together and it’s better to just leave it. So we love that song. We had a ball shooting the video. It just so happens that the whole thing, for some reason or another, didn’t quite come together so we just decided to leave it. And that’s what happened.”
Well, at least we heard SOMETHING regarding the video’s disappearance!
Alicia Keys and Beyonce are two of the most successful female artists in music history. They have collaborated together many times, but one collaboration that never came to fruition was a video for their 2010 song “Put It In A Love Song.” In a recent interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1 Radio, Keys explained why they decided not to make the video.
Alicia Keys has had an illustrious career as both a singer-songwriter and producer since her debut album Songs in A Minor sold over 12 million copies worldwide back in 2001. She has worked alongside some of the biggest names in music like Jay-Z, Usher and Kanye West. Of course she also teamed up with fellow powerhouse vocalist Beyoncé multiple times throughout her career – including on the single “Put It In A Love Song” from her 2010 album The Element of Freedom.
However, fans were left wondering what happened to the rumored video for this hit track after it failed to materialize shortly after its release nearly 10 years ago. Now finally we know the answer; recently during an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1 Radio, Keys revealed why they chose not to follow through with making the much anticipated visual accompaniment for the track.
Inspiration Behind The Song
The collaboration between Alicia Keys and Beyoncé for the song “Put It in a Love Song” was an exciting prospect. The pair had worked together on numerous projects before, but this one promised to be something special. To bring their ideas to life, they set out to create a music video that captured the heart of their message: love is powerful and can overcome any obstacle.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned when it came time to shoot the clip. Despite both artists’ enthusiasm for the project, there were several issues with scheduling conflicts due to conflicting tour dates and other commitments. As a result, production was delayed and eventually cancelled altogether.
Alicia Keys recently spoke about why she believes the video never made it off the ground. She explained that at its core, making art is all about connecting with people – not just through sound but also visually. Since neither artist could commit enough time or energy into filming a full-length video, they decided it would be best to scrap it altogether rather than compromise on quality.
Reasons For Cancellation
Ultimately, Alicia Keys and Beyoncé’s inability to commit enough time or energy into making the “Put It in a Love Song” video was the biggest reason for its cancellation. Both artists had busy schedules with conflicting tour dates and other commitments that made it difficult to coordinate filming times. Additionally, production costs were quickly becoming too high as they continued to push back shooting dates.
The two performers also wanted to ensure their artistry wasn’t compromised by rushing through the video shoot. Making music videos is all about connecting with people visually – something both Keys and Beyoncé felt would be impossible if they weren’t able to give 100% of themselves to the project. Therefore, rather than create something subpar, they decided it would be best to cancel the visuals altogether.
Although fans never got what could have been an incredible visual collaboration between these two musical icons, we can still enjoy the song itself, which features beautiful harmonies from both singers and underscores why love truly conquers all.
Conclusion
The collaboration between Alicia Keys and Beyoncé on their song ‘Put it in a Love Song’ was something that fans had been eagerly awaiting. It is, therefore, disappointing to hear that the video for this track never made it out into the public sphere. Although we may never know what the visuals would have looked like, Alicia has explained why they ultimately decided not to release them.
According to her, both artists felt as though there were other things going on at the time which overshadowed the message behind their duet. They wanted to be sure that any work they released accurately reflected their intention of spreading love with music. As such, instead of risking losing sight of this goal by putting out content which didn’t fit with their vision, they chose to keep hold of it until later.
Ultimately, I commend Alicia and Beyoncé for taking control of how their story was told; respecting themselves and each other enough to ensure that whatever material went out truly represented who they are as individuals and as musicians. Even if we can’t see the video for ‘Put it in a Love Song’, its impact still lives on through its beautiful lyrics and heartfelt melody.