Is Alicia Keys Wrecking A Marriage?

Alicia Keys shown with Swizz Beats in St. Tropez months after Swizz's wife claimed the affair.

By Kristine Gasbarre — Written on Aug 28, 2009

We came across this beat just as we were wondering what was happening in Alicia Keys' love life. Such a gorgeous, smart and talented star...why never any man since her split from Krucial? YourTango: Why Am I Still Single?

Turns out she's got a man, but he's not exactly her own. Alicia, 28, has been spotted on-and-off since late last spring with Swizz Beats, with whom she worked on Whitney Houston's new album I Look to You. Swizz Beats, whose real name is Kasseem Dean and who will turn 31 this Sunday, reportedly married R&B singer Mashonda in 2004. In 2007 they had a son Kasseem Jr. (and had some photos taken of Mashonda's belly that maybe should have stayed private—after you read this check it out at Bossip). In April 2009 they split, with Mashonda claiming that Alicia Keys came between them.

Since the split Mashonda also has spouted off about her dissatisfaction with Swizz, saying that when he cut his payments to her from $20,000 to $3,500 a month, it seriously affected her quality of life. In May Bossip reported via New York Daily News that when heat went out in Mashonda's 30,000 square foot mansion outside New York City, Swizz wouldn't pay for the repair. However she reportedly continues to drive two luxury vehicles and take European holidays, but when she sees the bills for what Swizz is spending on Alicia, she goes green.

Meanwhile, Swizz has confirmed his relationship with Alicia Keys but has said he tries to keep it private because he doesn't want to offend his wife during their pending divorce, but he's also protecting his new romance having said, "What [Alicia and I] have is so precious." He's blatantly written about her in his music (in "Best I Ever Had" he wrote:

Wake up in the morning and my baby cooked me breakfast, A’s naked wearing nothing on but a necklace …Yeah, she say she wanna treat me like a king; I get big gifts so the money ain’t a damn thing...She gave me a party at the Guggenheim … What’s next? The ring? The baby? She really loves me!)

Indeed he's said Alicia did throw him a party at the Guggenheim and they do buy each other expensive gifts, and this week they were spotted together at a romantic dinner in St. Tropez. Fame Pictures has identified the man in these photos as Alicia's ex Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, but we've seen pics of K, and this man is almost certainly Swizz.

However, Swizz says he and Alicia aren't ready for marriage and babies just yet. Maybe they just want to take things slowly, or maybe it has something to do with the near million dollars Swizz reportedly owes the IRS. Perhaps if they want to keep this going they better hope the project that brought them together, collaborating on Whitney Houston's song "Million Dollar Bill," will live up to its name and make this relationship worth the drama.