"Family Taught Me To Create Space For Myself" - Alicia Keys

Becoming a wife and a mother taught Alicia Keys to practice better self-care. The 38-year-old singer reflected on her blended family with producer Swizz Beatz, 40, in an interview for the June 2019 issue of Essence magazine, and confessed her children, in particular, encouraged her to remove negative energy from her life. 

“Man, becoming a wife and a mother, specifically a mother, really taught me so much,” she shared. “I remember clearly wanting to remove the negative energy around me quickly, and prior to that, I didn’t feel so drawn to do that for myself. But doing it for this new soul made sense to me.” Alicia and Swizz, real name Kasseem Dean share sons Egypt, eight, and Genesis, four. Beatz is also father to 12-year-old son Kasseem Dean Jnr with ex-wife Mashonda Tifrere.

The Girl on Fire hitmaker went on to consider how caring for her children ultimately prompted her to make positive changes in her own life, and made her more selective about the projects she devotes her time to. 

“That evolved into realizing that if it’s not really feeling like the right thing for me…if it’s not feeling really good, I’m not going to do that,” the star admitted. “I used to say yes to everything. I think I started to learn about boundaries for myself and creating space for myself and allowing there to be an ending. “I started to understand the difference of, like, if it’s flowing, it’s flowing. If it’s not flowing, go back tomorrow. It’s okay. You don’t have to force it,” she reflected.