Alicia Keys dismisses rumors she broke up Swizz Beatz's first marriage

Singer ALICIA KEYS has shot down ongoing reports she began dating husband SWIZZ BEATZ while he was still married.

The music producer and R&B star Mashonda separated in 2008 just before Beatz, real name Kasseem Dean, started dating Keys.

The Empire State of Mind hitmaker has been dogged by rumors she broke up the former couple's four-year union ever since, and now the soul singer has addressed the cheating allegations, insisting she has done nothing wrong.

She tells Jet magazine, "(Mashonda and Beatz) were apart for some time before we ever got together... (but) that doesn't matter to those who take pleasure in trying to knock others down."

And Keys, who exchanged vows with Beatz in 2010, insists she is tired of having to defend herself to the media: "There's no need to fight what's not true."