Alicia and Swizz will celebrate their one year wedding anniversary in July. Last year, they joined in holy matrimony on the French Island of Corsica with 60 close friends and family.
Their new found love was under scrutiny when they officially announced that they were a couple in 2009. Swizz was still officially married to Mashonda Tifrere and the father to her four year-old son Kasseem Dean Jr. while having a daughter with British singer, Jahna Sebastian. Swizz and Mashonda announced their wedding was over a month after the baby girl of Jahna's was born. Alicia says that she and Swizz began their relationship [privately] the fall after his daughter was born. Which means that he was already officially separated from Mashonda and in the midst of divorce proceedings when Mashonda wrote an open letter to Alicia accusing her of being a homewrecker. Alicia was four months pregnant when Kasseem and Mashonda's divorce was finalized in 2010. And to Mashonda's surprise, that same month, her ex proposed to Alicia and proudly announced it to the world.
On Starting The Relationship With Kasseem Dean :
AK: "Everything was in order," says Alicia. "We didn't start seeing each other until after they [Kasseem and Mashonda] had been separated for months... I was very aware of all the false things that were being said about me. And I definitely hurt. But I was sure that if I engaged, it would become a back-and-forth like some sort of sick entertainment, which goes against everything I believe in and only would have made things worse. Of course, people will believe what they want to believe. But I know the truth will shine through."
Alicia's bff, Rose, insists that Alicia is not the kind of person who let's drama into her life.
"Alicia doesn't get involved in tit for tat," she said.
On The Inspiration For Naming Her Son 'Egypt':
AK: "I had been working and touring and coming back and recording and making a movie and this and that, and then my grandmother got very sick and it was just like boom!" [after the release of her album Diary of Alicia Keys] ..."I got to a place where I was so uncontrollably tired I couldn't find my way back." She traveled to Egypt and toured the pyramids where she says she found her spiritual reawakening. Alicia was reminded of that feeling when Swizz suggested they name their son "Egypt."
Alicia and Mashonda have made amends and are happy raising their children as an extended family for the greater good, especially for the children involved. Mashonda wrote another open letter saying she appreciates her "beautiful blended family."
On doing what's right:
AK: "Things are really good now...Kasseem is very present in his children's lives. I wouldn't be able to love him otherwise. We're doing what's best for the children. That's always been the most important thing, I look forward to helping them shine. They are all so phenomenal and I love them so much."
Checkout more of the interview in the June issue of ESSENCE.
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