Alicia Keys is taking a political turn, as she explains in a recent interview with Blender magazine that gangsta rap "was a ploy to convince black people to kill each other. 'Gangsta rap' didn't exist."

The singer also allegedly has also been reading several Black Panther autobiographies, and wears a gold AK-47 pendant around her neck "to symbolize strength, power and killing 'em dead."

In the interview, which hits newsstands on Tuesday (April 15), Keys also explains that the deaths of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. were the result of the government's actions. The Grammy Award-winner believes that East coast/West coast feud was fueled "by the government and the media, to stop another great black leader from existing."

The singer, who now intends to write more political songs, also noted that if black leaders of the past "had the outlets our musicians have today, it'd be global. I have to figure out a way to do it myself."