"You Don't Know My Name" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys for her second studio album The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003). It was written by Keys, Kanye West and Harold Lilly, and produced by Keys and West. The song contains a sample from the 1975 song "Let Me Prove My Love to You", written by J. R. Bailey, Mel Kent and Ken Williams and performed by The Main Ingredient. It was released as the lead single from The Diary of Alicia Keys on November 10, 2003, by J Records.
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| Single by Alicia Keys | ||||
| from the album The Diary of Alicia Keys | ||||
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| Released | November 10, 2003 | |||
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| Label | J | |||
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| Alicia Keys singles chronology | ||||
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| "You Don't Know My Name" on YouTube | ||||
"You Don't Know My Name" became Keys' third top-ten hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for eight consecutive weeks. Critically acclaimed, the song won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song and a Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single, Female. It was sampled on rapper Lil Wayne's 2008 song "Comfortable", featuring Babyface and produced by West.
Music video
Directed by Chris Robinson and Andrew Young, rapper Mos Def plays Michael Harris, Alicia's love interest, and Keys plays a waitress at a restaurant. The music video follows Keys working as a waitress at a café. One day, Keys meets a man (played by Mos Def) in the café, and she falls in love with him. Later on, Keys is at a house party where she runs into that same man when a fight is about to break out, and the scene resembles the house party scene in the movie Cooley High. Later in the video, Keys imagines getting the courage to call him and to tell him about her feelings. However, at the end of the movie, she remembers his order but there is no other recognition and the scene ends with his card still being in the bowl and Keys staring out the window since she will never be able to reveal her true feelings for the man.
Rankings
Blender placed the song at number 37 on its list of "The 100 Best Songs of 2004". Pitchfork ranked "You Don't Know My Name/Will You Ever Know It? (Reggae Remix)" at number twenty-three on their list of Top 50 Singles of 2004.
Track listings and formats
Personnel
Charts
Year-end charts
| Chart (2004) | Position |
|---|---|
| Brazil (Crowley) | 55 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 29 |
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks (Billboard) | 6 |
| US Rhythmic Top 40 (Billboard) | 65 |
Decade-end charts
| Chart (2000–2009) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) | 38 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Silver | 200,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA) | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
| ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
Release history
| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | November 10, 2003 | J | ||
| November 18, 2003 | ||||
| Germany | November 24, 2003 | Maxi CD | Sony Music | |
| France | November 25, 2003 | |||
| United States | December 1, 2003 | Contemporary hit radio | J | |
| United Kingdom | December 8, 2003 |
| RCA | |
| France | March 2, 2004 | CD | Sony Music |