Alicia Keys decided to name her son Egypt after taking a trip to the Land of Pharaohs that changed her entire way of thinking. The singer and songwriter recently told iVillage that her trip to Egypt was during a “really powerful, lonely, insecure time in my life. I was learning a lot of people were taking advantage of me in a lot of ways business-wise. I realized that nobody was going to protect me except me,” said Keys.
Alicia further explained, “When I came back, I found a piece of myself that I think I was missing somewhere or I lost somewhere and I felt reinvigorated and I was kind of set back on my path.” When the time came for her and husband Swizz Beatz to name their first child, Swizz thought back on Alicia’s Egyptian stories. “My husband was really like, ‘But you know your trip to Egypt, you talk about it all the time, it was really empowering to you, it really changed your life, and so will this. What do you think about Egypt?’ And I was like ‘Oh my gosh!’ … I was like, it was it. So … we knew he was Egypt from very, very early,” explained Keys.
Two years into motherhood, Alicia credits Egypt as her greatest collaboration. “He means everything to me. And it’s just the best, best thing, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I was doing an interview about … music and … different collaborators that I had, and Egypt’s the best collaboration that I’ve ever [done]. It’s the best song I ever wrote, it’s the best experience that I’ve ever had. It’s the best show I ever performed. It’s the best everything. It really is.”
Keys new album, Girl On Fire, is set to debut next month.
