In 2022, black men are standing up for their women. Earlier this year, we saw Will Smith deliver the slap heard around the world following some off-color jokes from Chris Rock about his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith. While many people have taken different sides, there’s been an overwhelming amount of people who support his public display of aggression and feel that more black women deserve to be championed and protected in such a way. Fellow rapper and super-producer Swizz Beatz seem to be taking cues from Will Smith and recently came to his wife Alicia Keys defense following a social media dig from Joe Budden.
In 2003, Alicia Keys released her sophomore album, The Diary of Alicia Keys. The album featured a handful of iconic songs from the multi-grammy winner, including “If I Ain’t Got You” and “You Don’t Know My Name.” Another standout record was the title track “Diary.” On the piano ballad, Alicia is joined by Tony! Toni! Toné! and backing vocalist Jermaine Paul. Paul is best known these days for winning season 2 of The Voice, but in 2003 he was known as the incredible male vocalist trading riffs with Alicia Keys at the end of “Diary.”
Some people enjoyed Paul’s contributions so much that they feel he stole the show from Keys and frequently would be the highlight of the song during live performances and concerts. On Twitter, one fan said, “Alicia Keys really got cooked on Diary,” meaning that Paul outshined her. Radio shock jock and rapper Joe Budden chimed in and responded to the Tweet, saying “Lowkey lol,” meaning he agreed.
Swizz Beatz got wind of this Tweet and let Joey have it. Swizzy responded, “King knock it all the way off! Let’s not do this! I never get into your zones! Leave my wife out of everything but greatness! Please….”J oe Budden reportedly removed the Tweet shortly after the exchange.
Lmaoo Swizz wasn’t gon let Joe Budden come sideways at his wife!! pic.twitter.com/d7DEam0WGH
— DJ R-Tistic (@DJRTistic) May 27, 2022
One fan reshared the exchange with a picture of Will Smith from the Oscars looking up at Chris Rock moments after slapping him. Fans in the comments agreed that Swizz’s response had the same energy. “I know Joe Budden deleted ‘that’ tweet, but I’m still stuck on the fact that y’all didn’t think Swizz should defend his WIFE! What starts as a joke turns reckless if not controlled. And too many of y’all are way too comfortable playing on the LEGENDARY Alicia Keys’ top! Stop it,” said another fan.
The damage was done as fans began to come for Keys’ vocals in agreement that she got outsung on the record. “In the Black community, it’s widely known that Alicia Keys got cooked on Dairy. Like that’s not even up for debate, why people acting like this ain’t common knowledge.”
Apparently, the joke has made its way onto Tiktok with one person reenacting a live performance of “Diary.” In the clip, he portrays Keys as shocked and overwhelmed while watching Paul trail off into a series of riffs and adlibs, not on the original record. “Bro singing like his life depended on it,” he said over the sketch. Followed by “Alicia trying to pull through” before she calls over studio security to remove him from the stage.
— Talilia Conely (@HeyThereTelilah) May 27, 2022
You think Swizz was on that Will Smith wave clapping back at Joe? Or did Alicia really get “cooked” on her own song?
