Alicia Keys & Swizz Beatz Turn To Lowrider Soul For “Lovers Rose”

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz took their next joint project into lowrider territory, revealing a seven-track album called Lovers Rose that pulls from Chicano soul and Latin musical traditions.

The couple discussed the record in Vogue Italia’s November cover story. Keys’ team announced an expected arrival in early 2027 and described the project as a sonic installation.

Keys described a warm, calm sound outside their usual New York style, while Swizz discussed writing together and sharing ideas in the room.

“Working with my wife, of whom I am still a huge fan, is amazing. Being able to be in the same room with her, writing together, sharing ideas, and giving the audience something they don’t expect from the two of us is incredible,” Swizz Beatz said.

The pair had worked on music together long before Lovers Rose. In December 2010, Swizz’s Monster Mondays series released Keys’ “Speechless”, which featured Eve and centered on their newborn son Egypt. Keys presented it as a holiday gift for fans. The track sampled Kanye West’s “Devil In A New Dress.”

“It’s not the typical ‘New York sound.’ There’s a sense of peace, of warmth, a vibration that allows you to relax and disconnect from the chaos of a world that scares us,” adds Keys. “‘ Lovers Rose’ is an invitation to let your nervous system breathe,” Alicia Keys revealed.

The car connection has already extended beyond the studio.

Earlier this month, BRABUS introduced a Lovers Rose clothing collection made with the couple. The range included T-shirts, hoodies, track pants, shorts and caps, with rose imagery worked into the designs.

BRABUS drew inspiration from Keys and Swizz’s own BODO Coupe. The car was named for company founder Bodo Buschmann. The brand framed the clothes around the couple’s interests in music, design and cars, giving the Lovers Rose name a home in fashion before the record arrives.

Their creative partnership has also brought Black visual art into museums. The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s presentation of “Giants” drew on their personal Dean Collection, with more than 130 works and 37 Black American and diasporic artists.

The Brooklyn Museum organized the exhibition in 2024; it included paintings, photographs, sculptures and installations. Its artists included Gordon Parks, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Amy Sherald, Kehinde Wiley and Mickalene Thomas. San Diego marked its first West Coast showing. Swizz also curated an official playlist for that run.

The two extended that work into film this year, joining the executive producers of “Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story”. Directed by Yemi Bamiro, the documentary examines the photographer and activist whose images helped shape the Black Is Beautiful movement.