Songfacts®:

• This was Keys' second single, after "Fallin'." She released her first album on Clive Davis' record label after spending four years at Columbia Records without releasing anything.
• Keys wrote this song about self-esteem, and being worthy of the kindness of others. She explained that the sentiment can relate to a man or a woman.
• The video was shot in Brooklyn, near where Keys grew up. It was directed by Chris Robinson, who also did her videos for "Fallin'," "Karma" and "You Don't Know My Name."
  
  The story picks up where "Fallin'" left off, as Keys' boyfriend re-enters society after his prison stint.
• In the webchat for the Sun newspaper of March 18, 2002, Alicia Keys was asked what inspired her to write this song. Her reply: "I was actually in someone's house for Thanksgiving and I was watching TV. All these different commercials came on. There was this one commercial that said 'Because I'm Worth It.' And you know what - I AM worth it."
• The commercial that inspired Keys was for the cosmetics brand L'Oréal Paris, who's been using the slogan "Because I'm Worth it" (or "Because You're Worth It") as an empowering phrase for women since the '70s. It was coined by Ilon Specht, a junior female copywriter, who was tired of the male-dominated ad industry portraying women making decisions based solely on what was attractive to men instead of their own desires.
  
  Keys spoke further about how the tagline inspired her in a 2022 Library of Congress interview.
  
  "It just sent me off on a trip in that whole 'Woman's Worth' concept," she explained. "It was written about expressing you're worth and I deserve to be treated in these beautiful ways because I'm worth it. That led me even on the whole journey to writing songs that women really relate to. The entire album is a whole story."
• Keys sang "A Woman's Worth" when she was the musical guest on the 2001 season premiere of Saturday Night Live.
• A remix was released in February 2002 featuring the rapper Nas.
• Keys sang a tango-style version of this alongside flamenco dancer Joaquin Cortes as part of a medley with "Fallin'" at the 2002 Grammy Awards. She took home five Grammys that night, including Best New Artist, Best R&B Album, and Song of the Year (for "Fallin'").
• Keys performed this as a duet with Bruno Mars at the 2011 BET Awards.
• "A Woman's Worth" was used on the TV series The Wire in the 2006 episode "Alliances." It was also used in the 2003 movie Hollywood Homicide, starring Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett, and the series finale TV movie of MTV's Daria, Daria in 'Is It College Yet?' (2002).