"Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" is a song by American singer-songwriter

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

from her fourth studio album ''

The Element of Freedom ''The Element of Freedom'' is the fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Alicia Keys, released on December 11, 2009, by J Records. Recording sessions for the album took place during May to September 2009 at the Oven Studios in Long ...

'' (2009), that features uncredited background vocals from Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

, although he is credited on the official remix of the song. It was initially scheduled to be the fifth single, but it was released as the fourth single. It was her first single to reach number one on the R&B chart in the United States since 2007's "

Like You'll Never See Me Again "Like You'll Never See Me Again" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her third studio album '' As I Am'' (2007). Written and produced by Keys and Kerry Brothers Jr., it was first heard on October 25, 2007, on Atlanta' ...

". "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" spent twelve consecutive weeks atop the ''Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

, becoming the longest-running number-one single of 2010. The song topped the ''Billboard''

Adult R&B Songs The Adult R&B Songs chart (formerly called Adult R&B Airplay) is an airplay chart that is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on urban adult contemporary radio stations, whose playl ...

, and reached number twenty-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Composition

"Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" is a

down-tempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may ...

R&B song written by Alicia Keys,

Aubrey Graham Aubrey Drake Graham ( ; born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian rapper and singer. An influential figure in contemporary popular music, Drake has been credited for popularizing singing and R&B sensibilities in hip hop. He gained recognition by ...

, Kerry Brothers Jr., and

Noah "40" Shebib Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...

in the key of

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: : Changes need ...

Critical reception

Mariel Concepcion from '' Billboard'' magazine called the song the album's "standout track". Concepcion said that Keys "goes from entertaining puppy love to confessing deeper emotions", adding that she "sings nervously over extended piano strokes" and "has never sounded quite as vulnerable and exposed as she does here." Ashante Infantry from ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'' also picked the song as the album's top track saying "Keys is as sexy as she's ever been on the sultry" track. Allison Stewart from ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' said that Drake's appearance on the song is pointless, "filling some sort of unspoken requirement that every female R&B album contain an appearance by at least one cool-but-unthreatening hip-hop star." Molly Lambert of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' ranked the song as the 64th best song of the year, writing: "Keys always puts out one perfect song per album. It's an instant babymaking classic. Skittering beats, trembling synths, deep piano chord progressions, and floating drums. It sounds like it was recorded in a

downtempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may b ...

underwater sex chamber or inside a neon motel sign ... It is the eye of the

quiet storm Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album '' A Quiet Storm''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Li ...

Chart performance

In the chart week dated May 22, 2010, "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" topped the U.S.

chart, having already been present on the chart for eighteen weeks. It remained at the top of the summit for twelve consecutive weeks this becoming her longest running Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart leader, beating her previous best of ten weeks with " No One" (2007). The single was also broke another R&B chart record, this time on the ''Billboard''

chart. On June 3, "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" topped the Adult R&B chart, giving Keys her ninth leader on this chart and extended her lead ahead of

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...

Brian McKnight Brian Kelly McKnight (born June 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, radio host and multi-instrumentalist. He is most recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range and melisma. McKnight is known for h ...

and Luther Vandross, all of whom rank in second place with six chart leaders each. The single also reached number twenty-one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. To date the song's success on both the Hot 100 and R&B charts make "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" the most successful single from ''

''. At the end of 2010, following its twelve-week run leading the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart, "Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" was named the number-one R&B/Hip-Hop song of the year on the end of year charts.

Remix

The official remix of the song features a verse by Canadian rapper

was released on iTunes on May 28, 2010.

Lloyd Banks Christopher Charles Lloyd (born April 30, 1982), better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American rapper. He began his career as a member of East Coast hip hop group G-Unit, alongside childhood friends 50 Cent and Tony Yayo. After th ...

released his own remix to the song.

Joe Budden Joseph Anthony Budden II (born August 31, 1980) is an American media personality and former rapper. He first gained recognition as a rapper with his 2003 top 40 single " Pump It Up" and as a member of the hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse. In ...

would follow up and release his own remix to it as well.

Music video

Keys filmed the music video in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

with director

Jake Nava Jake Nava is a British director, mostly known for his work in music videos for Beyoncé, Arctic Monkeys, Adele, Britney Spears and The Rolling Stones. He also directs TV commercials, notably for Guinness and Levi Strauss & Co. Early life and ed ...

. Although

appears on background vocals, Keys has stated that he does not appear in the video because she said "that would be too obvious". The video tackles issues of

interracial dating Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different races or racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United States, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation. In 19 ...

and as Keys told ''Rap Up'' magazine, "The promo clip will highlight the past and present stigmas surrounding the subject." Additionally

Chad Michael Murray Chad Michael Murray (born August 24, 1981) is an American actor and writer. He is best known for playing Lucas Scott in The WB/ CW drama series '' One Tree Hill'' (2003–09, 2012), a recurring role as Tristin DuGray on The WB/ CW series ''Gilm ...

, best known for playing

Lucas Scott Lucas Eugene Scott is a fictional character and the main protagonist from The WB /CW television series ''One Tree Hill'' created by Mark Schwahn and portrayed by Chad Michael Murray. Lucas is a talented basketball player and writer. He is rival ...

in ''

One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...

'', plays Keys' love interest. One of the scenes depicts a blood-stained Murray fighting a group of men. The video made its world premiere on May 12, 2010 on

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

and on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

's ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rate ...

''. The video features Keys in different decades, from the 1950s to the present. The video was awarded Outstanding Music Video at the 42nd NAACP Awards.

Track listings and formats

*Digital download #"Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" – 4:09 *Digital download (remix) #"Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready)" (Remix) (featuring

) – 4:42

Personnel

*Alicia Keys – piano, producer, Moog synthesizer, vocals *Carlos Alomar – electric guitar *Kerry Brothers – drum programming, producer *Drake – background vocals *Noah "40" Shebib – drum programming, keyboard, producer, recording engineer *Ann Mincieli – recording engineer *Miki Tsutsumi – assistant engineer *Val Brathwaite – assistant engineer *Manny Marroquin – mixing *Erik Madrid – mix assistant

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2010 singles Alicia Keys songs Drake (musician) songs Song recordings produced by 40 (record producer) Music videos directed by Jake Nava Songs written by Alicia Keys Songs written by Drake (musician) American hip hop songs Songs written by Kerry Brothers Jr. Songs written by 40 (record producer) 2009 songs J Records singles Quiet storm songs Downtempo songs Song recordings produced by Alicia Keys