Alicia Keys Goes on ‘Major Rant’ About Son’s Fear of Being Judged for Rainbow Manicure

Alicia Keys is not afraid to speak her mind, especially when it pertains to her children. Most recently, Keys took a trip to the nail salon with her youngest son, Genesis, during which he received a rainbow manicure, per Us Weekly. In an Instagram video she posted on Monday, the singer had a strong message for her fans regarding self-expression and exploration.

Keys recounted her recent nail salon trip with her son, 4-year-old Genesis.

“He tells the lady that he wants rainbow colors on his nails,” she said in the video. “And she brings all of these colors and she paints each nail a different color.”

However, shortly after getting his nails done, Genesis expressed some concern over the move. Apparently, he changed his mind regarding the manicure because, as she recounted, “people are not gonna like it.”

“Can you believe this,” she continued. “Four years old. He’s four and he already understands the concept that someone is gonna judge him because he chose rainbow colors on his nails.” Keys said that she assured her son that his new look was awesome, telling him that guys paint their nails all the time.

“You chose it, you liked it, you do it,” she told him. “Who cares what anybody else says?”

While the singer managed to make her son feel better about the situation, the whole matter caused her to think even more about those stereotypical gender norms and the effects that they have on everyone.

“The way I see it, there is masculine and there are feminine energies inside of us all, period,” she said. “It gets concerning to me that we can’t just explore these different sides of ourselves. These different energies that are within us. … We should be able to explore and express [masculine and feminine energies] however we want to.

The “No One” singer ended her message by asking everyone, “What do you think?” Naturally, many expressed their opinions over the matter, some more positive than others. Keys’ husband, Swizz Beatz, with whom she shares Genesis and son Egypt, 9, agreed wholeheartedly with his wife’s video, commenting, “He’s a young King and he can explore and express his creativity at anytime ! We support it as his parents 🤲🏾.”

Celebrity hair and makeup artist Nai’vasha was also on the same page as Keys and Beatz, and her thoughts really sum up the issue perfectly, as she wrote, “These rules are SO ancient and restrictive. I wish that judgy mentality that has been dumped on us would go away so we can all live liberated and happy.”