Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys keep the peace in their marriage by never arguing with each other.
Beatz explained how he keeps his marriage with the 17-time Grammy winner tight in a new interview with Us Weekly. The couple, who celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary this year, share two sons, Egypt, 14, and Genesis, 10, while Beatz has an additional three children from previous relationships.
"Marriage is definitely a big word, but look at it like your best friend,” said the producer and Verzuz co-creator. "The communication is there. We’ve never had an argument. Since we’ve been together, our kids [have] never seen it; never seen us raise our voice [or] never seen us yell. Never seen us curse at each other. Why? Because of communication."
Like other couples, the musicians "disagree on things," but Beatz and Keys choose not to escalate their differences.
"When you yell at each other, no one is really listening anyway. Nothing gets solved in each other’s yelling," Beatz continued. "People think they can own people. You can’t. It’s not property that you own. There’s a whole human, right?"
"So, we’re very clear on that. She’s her own boss. I’m my own boss," he declared. "That’s how we make magic when we come together. I think that helps because people start getting very territorial and making their partner property, and I think that’s the biggest mistake."
Keys said similarly on The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2020, sharing that she and her husband "never raise our voices at each other."
"We don't raise our voices at each other. We've definitely disagreed, it's not that we haven't disagreed, or he hasn't been uncomfortable with something that I did, or I'm uncomfortable with something he did," she said around the seven-minute mark of the video below.
"We get a chance to converse before it turns into the big blowout. You know, like if you don't catch it before, then it gets crazy," Keys continued.
Beatz was previously married to singer Mashonda Tifrere from 2004 and 2010, and with Keys, the trio have advocated for healthy co-parenting. In 2018, Tifrere published a book titled Blend: The Secret to Co-Parenting and Creating a Balanced Family.