Alicia Keys thinks it’s a shame that many of today’s popstars and musicians feel they can’t speak their mind about political issues for fear of ruining their career.

Alicia has proudly taken part in anti-war campaigns and has been an active fundraiser for a number of AIDS charities and she said recently: “I think music and socialism and politics have always gone hand in hand.”

“As artists we used to be way more instrumental in providing a soundtrack to the heartbeat of what’s going on in the world.”

“We all don’t have to think the same thing, but it’s important to state what we think. There is such a fear of termination of one’s career if they have any intelligent thought about politics and that’s messed up.”