If I Ai n't Got You " is a song by American singer-songwriter Alicia Keys from her second studio album '' The Diary of Alicia Keys '' ( 2003 ) . Inspired by the 2001 death of singer Aaliyah , the terrorist September 11 attacks , and other events in the world and in Keys ' life , the song is about " how material things do n't feed the soul . " The single cover depicts Keys similarly to the subject of Man Ray 's 1924 painting '' Le Violon d'Ingres ''
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
If I Ain't Got You