Alicia Keys has released “City of Gods Part II,” a re-working of the Donda 2 track “City of Gods” that finds the Grammy Award-winning pianist and songwriter paying ode to her hometown of New York City, following up on her much-hyped collaboration with Kanye West and Brooklyn-based rapper Fivio Foreign. The singer debuted the new tune live for the first time on The Ellen Show with a spectacular performance.
Keys’ version of the song blends the singer’s distinctive jazz-tinged piano progressions with the trap-inspired background rhythm of the song featured on Donda 2 — which, like “City of Gods,” interpolates the chorus of The Chainsmokers’ “New York City.” On the first stanza, Keys sings, “City of gods, city of dreams/City where nothing is ever as it seems.” “They’ll never take you away from me/’Cause I see nothing but infinity.” In her Ellen performance, she paid homage to the Big Apple by playing a grand piano in front of a glowing New York City cityscape background.
Keys is dressed to the nines in the stripped-down music video that accompanies the track’s release, standing alongside Mercedes’ Vision EQ Silver Arrow concept car. Keys, who is a Mercedes brand ambassador, has appeared in multiple adverts for the German automaker and performed at a launch event for the brand’s electric car range in November. Slick Rick, a rapper, also makes an appearance in the video, putting numerous spectacular pieces of jewelry around Keys’ neck.