"Empire State of Mind Broken Down" is a song by American musician Alicia Keys from her fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom. It is an answer song to the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "Empire State of Mind" performed by Jay-Z featuring Keys. Produced by Al Shux and Keys, the song gained international airplay and download sales although it was only officially released in the United Kingdom as the second single from The Element of Freedom. Before its official release, "Empire State of Mind Broken Down" had reached number four on the UK Singles Chart on downloads alone. The success of the song from a high volume of album downloads, led to it being announced as the second single from The Element of Freedom in the UK. The single was released on February 22, 2010. Keys and "Empire State of Mind Broken Down" are featured on a 2011 HP Beats Commercial. The song also featured on the soundtrack of the film Sex and the City 2.
Background
Following the release of "Empire State of Mind" in January 2010, Keys stated that she was planning to release a second version of the song featuring only her vocals, as a single the following month. The original takes of Keys' version, entitled "Empire State of Mind Part 2", included both Keys' vocals and a new rap verse from Jay-Z, but the final product did not include Jay-Z. Discussing the record, Keys claimed that it acts as a dichotomy of strength and vulnerability, commenting that "The music is really strong, and the drums are really aggressive, but my voice is vulnerable and delicate".
Critical reception
"Empire State of Mind Broken Down" was generally well received by contemporary music critics in their reviews for The Element of Freedom. Allison Stewart of The Washington Post noted that the track, which is a pop ballad, had replaced "Empire State of Mind" sports team references and ruminations with "even milder and less controversial string of generalities", highlighting Keys' version's lyrics "If I could make it here/I could make it anywhere". Greg Kot of Hartford Courant wrote that Keys' version "retains the soaring vocal hook" but the track "loses its swagger" without Jay-Z.
Chart performance
On December 20, 2009, due to high downloads of "Empire State of Mind Broken Down", the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number fifty-two. As of February 14, 2010 it has reached a new peak of number four on downloads alone. It became Keys' eighth top ten hit in the UK and second from The Element of Freedom. It ended up spending eight straight weeks within the top 10 in the country, the longest stay for any of her songs including the original version, Jay-Z's, "Empire State of Mind" in which she is featured. So far, it has spent 26 consecutive weeks within the top 40 as well as 52 weeks within the top 100, becoming Keys' most successful single ever. In December 2010 the song was announced as the thirteenth biggest selling single of the year in the UK, surpassing a number of chart-toppers and shaping as the biggest selling non-top-two single with 575,500 copies sold. In May 2011, the song would re-enter the top 100 by jumping from No. 189 to No. 93 in its 76th charting week. On January 21, 2010 the single entered the Irish Singles Chart at forty-six and reached eight. It also debuted on the Billboard R&B charts at number seventy-seven and peaked at number fifty-five on the Billboard Hot 100 without an official release. In May 2012, "Empire State of Mind " ranked as the 79th biggest selling single of the 21st century in the United Kingdom, as published by the Official Charts Company.
Live performances
On November 29, Keys performed the song's chorus in a medley alongside "Doesn't Mean Anything" and "No One", on the sixth season of the United Kingdom television show, The X Factor. Keys performed the full version of the song on 4Music Favourites. Keys also performed the song on Saturday Night Live along with "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart". Stephen Colbert and Keys also performed the song together on The Colbert Report with Colbert adding his own verses on December 15, 2009. For the 2010 Radio 1 Big Weekend, the track's chorus was changed from "New York..." to "North Wales..." and the new version waxes lyrical about all that the North Wales coast has to offer. Lyrics include; "Yes, today I travelled north from Harlech to the Menai Bridge. What a pretty drive, with so much to see it’s such a privilege." On June 28, 2011, Keys performed the song on Good Morning America. Keys also performed the song as the final number at the six-hour on December 12, 2012. There was no official music video shot for "Empire State of Mind Broken Down". However, due to the success of the song, leading to it being released as a UK single, the 4Music Favourites performance was shown on music channels as the music video.
