- When Alicia Keys married Swizz Beatz, there was a lot of controversy surrounding their union.
- Part of this was because they got married the same year Swizz and ex-wife Mashonda finalised their divorce.
- The family opened up about their journey to blending together through all the challenges.
Bringing two families together without children is already a challenging situation. When children are involved, it becomes even more complicated. However, children can become the inspiration to try and make things work. Unfortunately, being in the public eye makes things even harder.
When the world found out that R&B artist Alicia Keys and producer Swizz Beatz were an item, speculations quickly came up that she was a homewrecker.
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This was after people learned that Swizz was still married to Mashonda Tifrere. Now, the trio are speaking out about how they created a successful blended family.
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Although the timeline of how things went down between the three of them is still unclear, there is an assumption that Swizz and Mashonda separated nine months before finalising their divorce in May 2010. In the very same year, Swizz married Alicia Keys, which is where the rumours of Alicia being a homewrecker came from. Mashonda, Alicia and Swizz sat down with American TV host Michael Strahan to discuss their journey. He begins the interview by asking them to use one word to describe their blended family. To which Mashonda responded, saying, “Flow,” Alicia followed, saying, “My inspiration,” and Swizz joined in, saying it was victorious. “We love each other; I mean, we hang out with each other, we go to dinner together. Our family is one big, beautiful family. We’re doing Thanksgiving and holidays together; we’re doing birthday celebrations together. It is a beautiful partnership. I’m very proud that it’s a real thing and it’s possible,” Alicia Keys said.
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But blending their families together didn’t happen overnight. “It wasn’t easy. It was a rollercoaster ride. A lot of prayer, a lot of meditation,” Mashonda added.
After a painful divorce, Mashonda and Swizz, who share a son Kasseem Jr – weren’t getting along. “Things started off with a little bit of miscommunication and negativity,” Swizz said. This affected their son so much as he had questions about his father’s presence. “It was really a wake-up call. Even if we don’t want to for ourselves right now, we have to do it for him because he doesn’t deserve this,” Mashonda said, recalling the challenging time. Now, in her new book ‘Blend’ with the foreword by Alicia and a chapter by Swizz, Mashonda shares what she’s learned along the difficult but ultimately joyous journey. “Our community and our culture, we’re so comfortable being miserable, being unhappy. I lived through a messy divorce with my parents, and as a child, I remember the negative energy and feeling of not having security in my own home, and that is something I ever wanted for our son,” Mashonda adds.
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The trio also mentioned that they had to let go of their egos in order for the family to fully blend together successfully; this included having mediators. “What people don’t get to see, and I understand, they see us now loving each other and co-existing and getting along, but there is a whole middle that they didn’t see, and that’s where we all put the work in on ourselves individually and healed. We healed our children, we gave them an opportunity to see us growing, and that’s the real blend. That healing is the first step to blending.”
A turning point in their relationship happened when Mashonda invited Alicia to Kasseem’s 6th birthday party. “That was a pivotal moment because we had already been doing a lot of the work as far as communicating and really consciously trying to get a new level of humanity with each other, so by the time that was transpiring, we were in a great place,” Mashonda said. She also shared that Alicia stayed until the end of the party, which was when they hung out as a family for the first time. In 2016, Alicia Keys released a song titled, ‘Blended Family (What You Do For Love) featuring A$AP Rocky dedicating it to her blended family.
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“We did the video, and we wanted to make it exactly what it was, which is our life together. All of us, all of Kasseem’s brothers, his mom and me, his Umi,” Alicia spoke of the song. Mashonda added that Kasseem calling Alicia Keys his stepmother was not an option as it sounds all the way wrong. “Umi is so endearing; I mean, I call Alicia Umi all the time. It’s beautiful.” Michael Strahan asked if the process of blending ever stops, and Mashonda responded, saying that it is a never-ending journey. “It can never stop because our children are growing; they’re going to have graduations, they’re going to have weddings and children. So, it’s a continual flow.” Alicia added to her point, saying, “We’re partners. I remember one day, Mashonda said to me, ‘You know we’re going to be grandparents together’, and I was like, ‘Wow’. It gives me chills right now. It makes so much sense; it’s beautiful.”
Sources: ABC News
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHY
