Alicia Keys says she’s ‘always felt royal’ when she wears her hair in braids

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Alicia Keys has revealed she feels “proud of wearing braids” while opening up about the ways she can express herself through her hair.

The singer reflected on her relationship with her hair, and her heritage, in a new interview with Glamour UK, in which she said: “Hair is such a gorgeous expression of our individuality and deserves to be respected.

“I’ve always been proud of wearing braids and I love learning about the power of hair. I’ve always felt royal when I wear braids. There’s something so beautiful about the Blackness of it, about my African ancestry that I just feel truly connected to.”

During the interview, which sees the 39-year-old wearing braids and gold beads on the cover, Keys also revealed that she likes to study the history and significance of the hairstyle.

"I read a book once that was our story [and history] through hair and through braids, and I learnt how in each tribe, your position was actually told through the style in which you wore your hair; and we should accept the uniqueness of it. There’s definitely a lot of freaking messed-up hair culture that exists,” she said.

The Girl on Fire singer discussed her relationship with makeup as well, and why she decided four years ago to stop wearing makeup.

“Makeup was a big thing for me; I had been wearing it since I was, like, 16 years old,” she recalled. “And then, as I got into the music world, it was what you did every day to do your television, or to do your shoot. So, I did it because I thought that’s what you’re supposed to do.

“And I realised I became addicted to it; I didn’t feel comfortable without it.”

According to Keys, her standards of beauty were also influenced, and skewed, by internalising what she saw around her.

“You do internalise what’s around you a lot. I think when you see images and standards of beauty, you can automatically think to yourself: ‘Oh, isn’t that what beautiful is? Shouldn’t I emulate that?’ [There are] all these standards you can subscribe to, without even realising it,” she said.

Despite outside pressures and a career in the spotlight, Keys said she has managed to remain confident in herself - and “never felt like I wanted to change”.