Alicia Keys clearly isn’t someone who holds grudges against people — even if they interrupt her during a televised performance. As most will probably recall, back in 2009, Lil Mama infamously hopped onto the stage at the “MTV Video Music Awards” while Keys and Jay-Z were performing their hit single, “Empire State of Mind.”
For those who caught the awards ceremony live, Lil Mama hit the stage and acted like she was their hypeman as she threw up her hands in the air and enthusiastically nodded her head at Hova. By the end, she stood next to both Keys and Jay and joined their posture by crossing her arms as if she was meant to have been part of the performance all along. Well, fast forward to Tuesday evening, and it appeared all was well with Lil Mama and Keys as they crossed paths at the premiere of Teyana Taylor’s new movie, “A Thousand and One” at the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9 in New York City.
Alicia Keys giving Lil Mama a hug😭💙
— marco 🦦 (@rapsfoto) March 29, 2023
Alicia Keys when Lil Mama touched her: pic.twitter.com/KYJgUQzOYH https://t.co/6C2t0z8rmv
— ✍🏾🗣 (@writtenbytruth) March 29, 2023
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The pair shared a long hug, with the “Lip Gloss” rapper going on to gently rub Keys’ back before they connected hands and seemingly shared a few words with one another. The clip of Keys and Lil Mama was posted all over social media, as well as on YouTube, where one person wrote in the comment section, “Alicia Keys and Lil Mama greeting each other with hugs was something that I never think I’d see. Wonders never cease to amaze me.”
A second person chimed in as they reflected on the “VMAs” incident, writing, “I think Alicia understood the excitement of Lil Mama back then.”
Back in late 2021, the “Unthinkable” vocalist actually addressed the situation while promoting her album “KEYS” on N.O.R.E’s “Drink Champs.” Keys was finally able to tell her side of the story, saying she had no idea Lil Mama had crashed her performance until she got off stage.
https://t.co/ickYPJ9SH3 pic.twitter.com/3i7zhXNXrU
— AKFamStan 🎙️ (@AK_FamStan) March 29, 2023
https://t.co/6Ou5QtEpGI pic.twitter.com/fHXSCC1owF
— onika 💋 (@onikafreakykt69) March 29, 2023
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“How mad were you at Lil Mama when she f**ked up y’all performance?” N.O.R.E. asked. “All I know, we was on that stage. In my head, I was such a gorilla at the time, my eyes—I was like, ‘This is what’s happening. I’m gonna destroy this record tonight.’ That’s all I had in my head. Somehow, however she got over here, I didn’t even bear witness to.”
Keys continued, “The whole show, I was iced, so focused on making it amazing. I went backstage and Jay was like, ‘So, you ain’t see that?’ I was like, ‘What?’ He was like, ‘Nah, you ain’t just see what just happened?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, we killed it! That’s what just happened!’”