Alicia Keys has been a strong presence in pop culture for the last two decades, and deserves all the recognition she’s getting for her most recent album, Keys. And given her close relationship to the hip-hop world, it’s not surprising that she’s celebrating the release of the album in standard rapper fashion — with a massive new chain. And who better to marvel over the custom Elliot Eliante chain than her rapper/producer husband, Swizz Beatz, and one of her most high-profile collaborators, Jay-Z himself.
“Empire State Of Mind” might just be the best-known mainstream hit for both of them, and given that strong connection, Jay isn’t shy about heaping praise on Alicia’s new bling. “When we create these things, when AK comes out with Keys chain, I mean come on man, it’s just super hard first of all,” Jay-Z said in a clip about the bling. “The chain is just super hard. It comes from a different place, it’s beyond a show of wealth. People tend to identify it as [that] today, this thing comes back to… all the great kings from Ethiopia to Africa.”
That’s actually a fantastic way of identifying the piece as a celebration, and Alicia definitely deserves to be recognized as the royalty she is.