Singer Alicia Keys

Alicia Keys carried a knife when she was a child. The singer, who grew up in tough Manhattan neighbourhood Hell's Kitchen, has revealed she felt safer when she carried a weapon.

Alicia said: "Protection was a big issue. You felt more comfortable with a knife. I felt if someone tried to touch you I would have something to surprise them."

The Grammy award-winning musician says her mother was furious when she discovered her child was carrying the knife.

Alicia explained to Britain's Guardian newspaper: "I don't remember if she took it away but she was definitely upset. She was upset that I had to be like that, feel like that. She said, 'If this is the case, we'll move.'

Possibility of an attack

"It doesn't matter where you move, there's always a situation where someone's attacking you or the possibility of it," Keys stated.

The 26-year-old star, who makes her acting debut in new movie Smokin' Aces, has also admitted that she found it hard to adjust to her fame, because people expected her to dress in a feminine way.