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Alicia Keys Parts Ways with Manager
Keys and Robinson released a joint statement on Friday (July 16) announcing their split, reports Billboard.
“Jeff Robinson, CEO of MBK Entertainment Inc., and 12-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys have decided to change the structure of their business relationship,” read the statement. “Robinson and Keys will continue to collaborate and produce future albums together through MBK/J Records while Alicia will now oversee all aspects of her own personal career.”
The decision was “mutually agreed upon and amicable.” Moving forward, Keys’ own company AK Worldwide will oversee ventures including touring and licensing to film, television, and new business development. “This decision will allow Alicia more control over all aspects of her career from singing and songwriting, to leading many business ventures and social causes,” continued the statement.
Robinson had been Keys trusted friend and manager since she was 14 years old. He is credited as executive producer on her last four studio albums. “I have known Alicia since she was 14. She has matured as an artist, going from a ‘wide-eyed and curious-about-the-world girl’ to a ‘wide-eyed and curious-about-the-universe woman,” Robinson told Jet magazine in 2007. “She continues to absorb knowledge like a sponge and I feel like a proud father watching his daughter grow into a take-charge woman.”
Robinson’s company MBK Entertainment Inc. will focus on developing other acts including LeToya Luckett, Jermaine Paul, and Elle Varner.