“Underdog” by Alicia Keys

As the title suggests, Alicia Keys is dedicating this song to “underdogs”.  An underdog would basically be someone who is at a disadvantage in a given situation. The types of people Alicia seems to be specifically expressing sympathy for is the likes of homeless individuals, women whose rights are repressed in authoritarian countries, aspiring students and soldiers on the front line of wars. 

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for Alicia Keys's Underdog at Lyrics.org.

She also gives a special shoutout to economically-challenged single mothers, apparently even referencing her own in the process. And what she is telling such individuals is that they should ‘keep at what they love’. She believes that eventually they will “rise up” and overcome the situation if they keep pressing on. According to Alicia, in her eyes, these “underdogs” are “unsung heroes”.

So conclusively we can say that the songstress, who is known to have dropped similar inspirational tunes in the past, is setting out to encourage the types of people mentioned in this song.

Lyrics of "Underdog"

Facts about “Underdog”

The multi-talented Alicia Keys wrote and produced this tune in conjunction with Johnny McDaid.

And the other co-writers are as follows:

  • Ed Sheeran
  • Johnny Coffer
  • Foy Vance

RCA Records released this track on 9 January 2020. It is the third single from Alicia’s 2020 album, “A.L.I.C.I.A.”.

Is this Alicia Keys’ first collaboration with Ed Sheeran?

Yes, it is. Prior to “Underdogs”, Alicia and Sheeran had never had the opportunity to work together.

It should be noted that in addition to co-writing this song, Ed Sheeran also played acoustic guitar on it. Furthermore, he is also one of the two singers handling its background vocals. The other background vocalist is McDaid (one of the song’s writers).

First Live Performance

On January 29th, 2020, Alicia performed this song on TV for the first time. The performance in question took place on The Ellen Show.

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