2009–2011: The Element of Freedom, marriage and motherhood Alicia Keys

keys @ 37th annual american music awards red carpet, november 2009

in 2009, keys approached clive davis permission submit song whitney houston s sixth studio album you. subsequently co-wrote , produced single million dollar bill record producer swizz beatz. months later, featured on rapper jay-z s song empire state of mind lead single eleventh studio album blueprint 3. song commercial , critical success, topping billboard hot 100, becoming fourth number-one song on chart. additionally, won grammy awards best rap/sung collaboration , best rap song following year, among total of 5 nominations. following month, american society of composers, authors , publishers honored keys golden note award, award given artists have achieved extraordinary career milestones . collaborated spanish recording artist alejandro sanz looking paradise , topped billboard hot latin songs chart, keys first number 1 on 3 charts, made first black-american of non-hispanic origin reach #1 on hot latin tracks.

keys released fourth studio album, element of freedom, in december 2009. debuted @ number 2 on billboard 200, selling 417,000 copies in first week. part of promotional drive album, performed @ cayman islands jazz festival on december 5, final night of three-day festival broadcast on bet. preceded release of lead single doesn t mean peaked @ sixty on hot 100, , fourteen on billboard s hot r&b/hip-hop songs. keys ranked top r&b recording artist of 2000–2009 decade billboard magazine , ranked @ number 5 artist of decade, while no 1 ranked @ number 6 on magazine s top songs of decade. in united kingdom, element of freedom became keys first album top uk albums chart. album s second single, try sleeping broken heart , released in november , peaked @ number twenty-seven on hot 100 , number 2 on hot r&b/hip-hop songs chart. album s third single put in love song featured recording artist beyoncé. music video single, filmed in rio de janeiro, brazil, has been postponed several times, , later confirmed alicia keys team made decision not release video. in february 2010, keys released fourth single, empire state of mind (part ii) broken down peaked @ fifty-five on hot 100 , seventy-six on hot r&b/hip-hop songs chart. in may, un-thinkable (i m ready) featuring rapper drake released album s fifth single. while peaking @ twenty-one on billboard hot 100, topped hot r&b/hip-hop songs twelve consecutive weeks. song became album s successful single; keys eighth number 1 on chart; , key s first number 1 song in 5 years. album s sixth , final single, wait til see smile , released in december 2010 in united kingdom.

in may 2010, representative keys , swizz beatz confirmed engaged , expecting child together. keys , beatz had wedding celebration on french island of corsica on july 31, 2010. on october 14, 2010, keys gave birth son, in new york city. recorded song eve called speechless , dedicated son.

in june 2011, songs in minor re-released deluxe , collector s editions in commemoration of 10th anniversary. support release, keys embarked on four-city promotional tour, titled piano & i: 1 night event alicia keys, featuring piano. keys set co-produce broadway premiere of stick fly, scheduled open in december 2011. on september 26, 2011, premiere of project 5, known five, short film marks debut of keys director. documentary of 5 episodes tell stories of 5 women victims of breast cancer , how affected lives. production has co-direction of actresses jennifer aniston, demi moore , film director patty jenkins. in october 2011, rca music group announced disbanding j records along arista records , jive records. shutdown, keys release future material on rca records.