5 Things To Know About Music Producer And Alicia Keys' Husband, Swizz Beatz

A 2013 interview with Marie Claire revealed that Beatz didn't exactly sweep Keys off her feet — not initially, at least. The singer described her sweetheart’s flashy style as a turn-off, rather than a buy-in. "Swizz will have the fastest car, the biggest jewelry, the loudest jacket; everything with him is really over the top,” Keys said, according to E! News.  “I used to see him and think, 'He is so annoying.’” Lucky for Beatz, he wasn’t totally insufferable. The pregnant couple married in 2010.

The hit producer has worked with some of the biggest names in music, according to his discography. Beatz collaborators include Kanye West, DMX, Nas and, of course, Beyoncé. It wasn't until 2011, however, that the six-time Grammy nominee took home the W. He and Jay-Z's hit record, “On to the Next One” won the pair Best Rap Performance by a Duo at the 2011 awards.

Beatz, always the entrepreneur, graduated from Harvard’s nine-week Owner/President Extension Program in 2017. The producer-songwriter, who never went to college, announced the opportunity on social media. Beatz wrote: “From BX to Harvard,” Billboard reports. The artist has proven himself to be a true student of the game, spending time at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music in 2010.

Beatz owns the largest private collection of Gordon Parks’ photography in the world, The Harvard Gazette reported. He told The Gazette he wanted to be “a part of the change, instead of overthinking it” and loaned 80 pieces of his collection to the “Gordon Parks: Selections from the Dean Collection” exhibit, which was erected in 2019 at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Art. Beatz's intention, he told The Gazette, was to help bring Parks’ works before the people that inspired them: Black folks.

Keys and Beatz's 2010 wedding was officiated by Dr. Deepak Chopra, Indian American doctor, author and friend to the couple, according to CBS News. Chopra, who has authored at least 80 books and has had over a dozen entries on The New York Times’ best-seller list, is a guru of wellness and spirituality. Indeed, inquirers need to look no further than Beatz's Instagram account to witness the artist’s spirituality.