"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 and songwriter. A classically trained pianist, Keys began composing songs at the age of 12 and was signed by Columbia Records at 15. After d ...

from her fourth studio album '' The Element of Freedom'' (2009), that features uncredited background vocals from Canadian rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

, 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". "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 po ...

, 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, singer, and actor. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he is credited with popularizing R&B sensibilities in hip-hop music. Drake first gained recognition ...

, Kerry Brothers Jr., and

Noah "40" Shebib Noah James Shebib (born March 31, 1983), better known by his stage name 40, is a Canadian record producer, songwriter, record executive, and former child actor from Toronto, Ontario. He is best known for his production work with fellow Toronto n ...

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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' 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. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' 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'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' 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 or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' 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 ...

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 ...

." In February 2025, ''

'' ranked the song at number twenty-one on their list of The Top 50 R&B Love Songs of All Time.

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, 1966) is an American 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 seven ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

Brian McKnight Brian Kainoa Makoa McKnight Sr. (born Brian Kelly McKnight; June 5, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, record producer, radio personality, and multi-instrumentalist. An Contemporary R&B, R&B performer, he is recognized for his strong ...

and

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

, 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 '' The Element of Freedom''. 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 iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

on May 28, 2010. Rappers

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, East Coast hip hop group G-Unit, which he formed with childhood friends ...

and

Joe Budden Joseph Anthony Budden II (born August 31, 1980) is an American broadcaster and former rapper. He first gained recognition with his 2003 single " Pump It Up", which peaked in the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and preceded the release of h ...

released unofficial remixes to the song.

Music video

Keys filmed the music video in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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 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, writer, and former model. He played the lead role of Lucas Scott in The WB/ CW teen drama series '' One Tree Hill'' (2003–09, 2012), and recurring roles as Tristin DuGray on '' ...

, 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 and the pat ...

in '' One Tree Hill'', 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 LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

and on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

'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- rated ...

''. 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 The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial 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