Genre Soul, R&B | Label J | |
Released July 29, 2008
August 18, 2008 (U.S. mainstream)
September 1, 2008 (UK) Format CD single, digital download Recorded 2007
Oven Studios
(Long Island, New York)
Pie Studios
(Glen Cove, New York)
Legacy Recording Studios
(New York City, New York)
Conway Recording Studios
(Hollywood, Los Angeles, California) Length 4:34 (album version)
4:09 (radio edit) | ||
"Superwoman" is a song by American R&B-soul singer–songwriter Alicia Keys from her third studio album, As I Am (2007). Written by Keys, Linda Perry, and Steve Mostyn, the track was released as the fourth and final single from the album. It earned Keys her second consecutive Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 2009 ceremony, and was also nominated for Outstanding Music Video and Outstanding Song at the 40th NAACP Image Awards.
Contents
Song information
Keys stated in an interview with MTV that "Superwoman" is her favorite track of the album, saying: "Every time I sing it, it makes me feel inspired to be however I am that day." "Superwoman" is also the opening song on the WNBA games which features a video of Keys performing the song in one of her concerts along with shot of women playing in the WNBA. The song debuted in the U.S. on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart week of August 14, 2008, at number fifty-five, eventually peaking at number twelve. Keys performed the song with Queen Latifah and Kathleen Battle at the 2008 American Music Awards on November 23.
Music video
The music video for "Superwoman" was filmed on June 9–10, 2008 at Quixote Studios and Center Studios in Los Angeles. It was directed by Chris Robinson, who had previously worked on other videos with Keys, like her MTV Video Music Award-winning video "Karma" and her previous single "Teenage Love Affair".
Keys plays many roles of women at their best strength and effort. Throughout the course of the video, she embodies a young mother applying for a university, an African woman, a businesswoman, a Cleopatra-like pharaoh, and an astronaut. Jada Pinkett Smith was also in the video, along with her son Jaden. The music video premiered exclusively on July 15, 2008 on Keys' official website. It was ranked number seventy-one on BET's Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2008.
On July 16, 2008, the video earned seventy-six honors on YouTube from various countries in a span of thirty-six hours since it was uploaded.
- "Superwoman" (Radio Edit) – 4:04
- "Superwoman" (Call Out Hook) – 0:10
- "Superwoman" (Radio Edit) – 4:04
- "Superwoman" (Live Version) – 4:29
- "Superwoman" (Radio Edit) – 4:04
- "Superwoman" (Live Version) – 4:29
- "Teenage Love Affair" (Part II featuring LL Cool J)
- "Superwoman" (Video)