Alicia Keys vs. Mary J. Blige

versus

thu 1/24/2008

A collage of Alicia Keys and Mary J. Blige.

name	Alicia J. Augello-Cook.	Mary Jane Blige.
hometown	Manhattan, New York City.	The Bronx, New York City.
birthdate	January 25, 1980.	January 11, 1971.
style	R&B, jazz and soul.	R&B, hip hop and soul.
alter ego	Lellow.	Brook-Lyn.
the 'do	From cornrows to long and sexy.	From short and spiky to long and sexy.
precocious	Dropped out of Columbia University at age 17 to pursue a career in music.	Recorded a track in a shopping mall at age 17, parlaying it into a record deal with Andre Harrell's Uptown Records.
influences	Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Quincy Jones and author Alice Walker.	Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Anita Baker.
ticket to the bigtime	Fallin.	Real Love.
most recent release	As I Am.	Growing Pains.
superstar duet	My Boo with Usher.	Runaway Love with Ludacris.
platinum debut	Songs in A Minor (2001).	What's the 411 (1992).
records sold worldwide	Over 20 million albums worldwide.	Over 40 million albums worldwide.
as seen on TV	Appeared in an episode of "The Cosby Show" at five years old.	Appeared on "The Jaime Foxx Show."
the silver screen	Appears in the forthcoming The Secret Life Of Bees alongside Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson.	Stars as Nina Simone in a movie biopic.
we care!	Spokeswoman for Keep A Child Alive.	Spokesperson for the MAC Cosmetics AIDS Fund.
personal life	In a long-term relationship with songwriting partner Kenny "Krucial" Brothers.	Married to her manager Martin "Kendu" Isaacs.
the critics	AskMen: “She has taken the modern R&B world to a whole new level at the age of 19, with the release of her debut album, Songs in A Minor. Not to mention, she's also pretty good at 'tickling the ivory,' so to speak.”	Allmusic: "As she exorcised her personal demons and softened her style to include sleek designer clothes, she remained a hero to thousands of girls growing up in the same kinds of rough places she came from."
webprops	504,069 friends on official MySpace.	449,707 friends on MySpace.
best video moment	Teaching a young boy to respect the ladies in A Woman's Worth.	Singing on a NY rooftop with Method Man in I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need.