[3] Upon its release, The Diary of Alicia Keys received generally positive reviews from music critics.

Due to the extreme popularity of Songs in A Minor, there was a lot of pressure on The Diary of Alicia Keys to match or exceed that success.

[7] Among producers, Keys worked with Kerry Brothers, Jr., Kanye West, Timbaland, Dre & Vidal, Easy Mo Bee, D'wayne Wiggins and Kumasi.

"If I Was Your Woman", a cover of "If I Were Your Woman" by Gladys Knight & the Pips, was originally recorded for Songs in A Minor (2001) but remained unreleased until it was reworked with the cover of "Walk on By" by Isaac Hayes; the original version was included on the 10th anniversary reissue of Songs in A Minor in 2011.

That was what we called her when she was in her hip-hop mode so it's dope they recorded her singing in one key and pitched her up to make it sound high-pitched.

[10] Horn-infused alternative hip hop song "Karma" follows; it contains excerpts from Violin Concerto in D major, Op.

[11] The third track "Heartburn" "marries the explosive brass and choppy guitars of a Blaxploitation soundtrack to a beat bearing the influence of visionary producer Timbaland".

The album's lead single "You Don't Know My Name" contains excerpts and a sample of "Let Me Prove My Love to You" by The Main Ingredient.

[13] Keys was inspired by Aaliyah's death and the September 11 attacks when writing the album's sixth track "If I Ain't Got You", as those events made her realize what's truly important in life.

[16] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the song as reminiscent of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder's work.

[9] "Dragon Days" features "bouncy keyboards, classic rock guitar licks, and sultry, surprisingly disco-fied vocal delivery"[17] and follows Keys as a damsel in distress who needs to be saved by her "knight in shining armor".

Its lyrics follow a narrator who's ending her relationship and telling her lover to leave; it was later revealed the song was about Keys' father, who abandoned her and her mother when she was two years old.

[22] UK and Japanese editions of the album include bonus track "Streets of New York (City Life)", a hip hop song featuring Nas and Rakim.

[34] Afterwards, Keys co-headlined the Verizon Ladies First Tour with Beyoncé and Missy Elliott in North America from March until April 2004.

After performing on Today's Toyota Concert Series on May 7, Keys embarked on a five-month international tour which visited various venues and festivals in Europe, Asia and Australia.

[35] She continued performing in the United States, performing "If I Ain't Got You" and "Diary" on The Early Show's Summer Concert Series on June 8,[36] "If I Ain't Got You" at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards on August 29,[37] and "Heartburn" at 2004 Fashion Rocks on September 8.

[44][45] The song's accompanying music video, directed by Chris Robinson and Andrew Young, features Keys as a waitress at a restaurant and rapper Mos Def playing Michael Harris, her love interest.

[44][45] Its accompanying music video, directed by Diane Martel, is set in a wintry New York City and features a cameo by rapper and actor Method Man as Keys' on-screen boyfriend.

[69] Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani said that it "triumphs" the neo soul "achievements" of Songs in A Minor and is "a deft mix of modernism and classicism, not to mention street and class.

"[17] Q magazine called it "a proper soul album which hooks you with the first pneumatic beat and draws you deeper with every heady atmosphere and vivid emotion.

"[63] Jon Pareles, writing in The New York Times, claimed that "it has taken The Diary of Alicia Keys ... to testify that soul songwriting can survive" and felt that the album "echoes familiar soul sounds, but Ms. Keys sounds undaunted by her sources, and she's learning fast.

"[70] Rob Sheffield, writing in Rolling Stone, called the album "an assured, adult statement, steeped in the complicated love life and musical dreams of an ambitious young woman who has absorbed enough Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin records to live up to the soul promise of 'Harlem's Nocturne'.

"[64] Dimitri Ehrlich of Vibe said that Keys is able to "sustain drama over the course" of the "masterful" album, which appropriates the "minimalist" productions of classic soul.

"[4] In a mixed review, Josh Tyrangiel of Time said that the album's first six songs are "models of how to make nostalgic music that is not anti-present", but the second half "sags".

[71] David Browne, writing in Entertainment Weekly, similarly said that the second half "drifts into a narcotized semi-slumber of one earnest, samey retro-soul piano ballad after another.

"[61] Laura Sinagra of The Village Voice felt that the album's songs lack hooks and other "surface content", sounding instead like unfinished vocal sketches.

[73] Alexis Petridis, writing in The Guardian, found it creatively safe and marred by "anodyne slow numbers studded with knowing references to old records".

[12] Uncut found Keys' lyrics boring and filled with a "litany of cliche and hackneyed need-a-man" wailing.

[65] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice rated the album a "dud",[74] indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought.

"[75] The Diary of Alicia Keys appeared on several 2004 critics' lists ranking the year's top albums.