By Brian McCollum/Detroit Free Press

When she emerged on the music scene in summer 2001, it was clear Alicia Keys had all the makings for stardom.

Lovely, fashionable and gifted, she ably straddled the worlds of classic soul and modern pop, a classically trained pianist who gracefully infused her hook-laden songs with a cosmopolitan air.

Seven years and 11 Grammy Awards later, Keys resides securely in popular music’s upper tier. Her fall release, “As I Am,” spent four weeks atop Billboard’s album chart and became the fourth-bestselling record of 2007.

Keys has grown leaps and bounds since her early shows, where her sets were as notable for their limited material as for her sweet-hearted performances. Now she’s on her first full-fledged arena tour with a set list that’s certainly no longer lacking for hits.

“I’ve just come more into my own,” she says. “And really, with experience comes confidence, and a little bit more awareness of how I would like to do it, having learned from the past.”

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 By Jon Bream/Minneapolis Star Tribune

She has recorded with hip-hop stars Jay-Z, Nas and the Roots, performed three times on David Letterman’s show and earned a gold record for her debut album. But rising R&B star Chrisette Michele’s biggest honor came two weeks ago. She received her college degree.

“I went to the graduation ceremony, embarrassed in that big ugly black cape that I took off as soon as we finished, but I wore the hat around all day,” said the New York singer/songwriter.

After she signed a recording contract with Def Jam two years ago, she got sidetracked from her studies at Five Towns College on New York’s Long Island. But she recently went back to finish the final 20 credits. “I still had to take science and math - all the classes that you need for your degree that you didn’t feel like doing in the beginning,” she explained last week by phone while running errands.

Her degree is in vocal jazz performance. One of her projects was writing and directing a music video of “Love Is You,” the current single from her debut disc, “I Am.”

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Al Green returns this week with his latest album, “Lay It Down,” off Blue Note Records.

The R&B legend collaborated with several of today’s young hip-hop producers and R&B artists including drummer Amir “?uestlove” Thompson of The Roots, John Legend and Corinne Bailey Rae.

Check out this feature from Nate Chin of The New York Times as he sits down will Green and the various contributors to his album due out Tuesday, May 27.

To purchase the album from Amazon.com.