ALICIA KEYS INDULGES DAMAGE CONTROL....

Alicia Keys has brought it to our attention that she's aware of the on-line controversy her remarks in Blender has had over the weekend. In the April 2008 issue of 'Blender', the 27-year-old said she believed 'Gangsta rap' was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other (inciting the murders of Tupac and Biggie). In the interview, she claimed the rappers' slayings were fueled by "the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing." However, the opinionated singer went to PEOPLE to do a spot of damage control.

Yesterday morning, she clarified those comments with the following statement: "I feel information led to some negative consequences. Had more communication been done between the two men I feel that more likely than not that result would not have happened". She followed it up with: "What I was saying was the term 'gangster rap' was so over-sloganized during that time... and that in so many ways everyday people as well as the government could have really done so much more to really obliterate and eradicate the things that were going on in the communities at that time that forced the artists to talk about so strongly what they saw, what they lived with every day. I wasn't saying that I was a conspiracy theorist or that I am anti-anyone. I am a very positive person and my only aim is to uplift people". She made it clear that she was pleased with the Blender article and that her only regret was that folks negatively took her comments out of context. I didn't really see much clarification. I think she realised what she said and wanted to lighten her comments to sound less scandalous. Still, she shouldn't backtrack on her opinions just because it caused minor outrage. Most folks actually agreed with her. And to some extent, she made a lot of sense.