Alicia Keys’ Son Egypt Is a Basketball Star and Business Mogul at Just 15 Years Old (Exclusive)

Gillian TellingTue, August 11, 2026 at 8:10 PM UTC

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Egypt Dean with the sports drink Hydro, from BallislifeCredit: Courtesy of BallisLife HYDRO -

Egypt Dean, 15, invested in Hydro sports drink using royalties from producing a Kendrick Lamar track at age 5

The basketball star is focused on playing for Duke University and exploring endorsement opportunities as they arise

Egypt, who is Alicia Keys’ son, admires players like Steph Curry and Allen Iverson and dreams of proving his talent in the NBA

It should probably come as no surprise that Egypt Dean, the 15-year-old son of Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, is extremely driven. The son of the singer and music producer is already an accomplished piano player, and he’s a basketball star at his high school in Los Angeles.

“My parents always say, ‘If you wanna be good at something, you have to put at least 10,000 hours into it,’ ” he tells PEOPLE of how he was raised to work hard. “When it comes to basketball, I’ve probably surpassed that three times already. But dedication is key if you want to get good at something.”

Now Dean is leaning into an entirely new realm: becoming an investor in a new sports drink called Hydro, from the basketball lifestyle brand Ballislife.

“I wasn’t really known two years ago for my basketball,” Dean says, recalling that he went to a basketball camp that was sponsored by Ballislife, where they had the Hydro drink. He ended up loving it.

“My dad and I started looking deeper into the company, because I was looking for investment opportunities,” he says. “Just because being an investor at a young age can have a very, very positive outcome on your future.”

He continues, “And it was just the right connection. I really responded to the amazing positivity that they showed us. A lot of people aren’t truthful about their sports drinks and what’s in them, but this lists everything there.” He adds, “And, it’s really delicious.”

Egypt Dean is an investor in HydroCredit: Courtesy of BallisLife HYDRO

As for the seed money? It was all his own, from money he earned from producing a beat for Kendrick Lamar when he was just 5.

“I absolutely remember it!” Dean says of that day in the studio, when he was still so young.

Egypt DeanCredit: Courtesy of BallisLife HYDRO

“The beat is called Untitled 07, and it’s like an eight-minute-long song. And basically what happened was, Kendrick and I had met at the Super Bowl and we connected over music, because I had started playing the piano and was getting good at it,” he explains. “And the next day, I decided to make a song for him. I woke up humming this melody over and over, and so my dad and I laid it down at the studio and sent it to him.”

Egypt Dean with a drink from BallislifeCredit: Courtesy of BallisLife HYDRO

Many months later, his dad came to him and said, “Hey, you made the album!”

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Dean says, “He played the song for me, and it was fantastic. Just an amazing experience.” He used the royalties from the track to invest in Hydro, and can’t wait for others to discover it.

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Egypt Dean poses with BallisLife Hydro drinksCredit: Courtesy of BallisLife HYDRO

In the meantime, Dean is gearing up for his sophomore year of high school and can’t wait to get back to the basketball court.

“I’ve loved it every since I can remember,” he says of the sport. “I remember going to Knicks games as a kid and just understanding everything about basketball. And then I took it a little more seriously and have joined a national team.”

Hydro in cherry limeade flavorCredit: Courtesy of BallisLife HYDRO

He says that he got swept up in Knicks fever during the playoffs (he accompanied his mom on piano as she sang “Empire State of Mind” during the parade), but he actually doesn’t have one team that he roots for.

“I don’t have one team! I just have players that I love, and I’ll root for them wherever they go,” Dean shares.

Swizz Beatz, Alicia Keys, and kids Egypt, and Genesis, 11Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

“Steph Curry is my favorite player of all time,” he says. “I think I can debate about that for days on end. But I also love Anthony Edwards, Jalen Green, and then I like to watch films of older players, like Allen Iverson and prime Kobe Bryant.”

And any future dream teams to play for?

“I’m more focused on which college I want to play for, which is Duke University,” he says, adding that recruitments and endorsement deals are “slowly creeping into my life.”

“And in the future, any NBA team that gave me a chance to prove my talent would be an honor,” he adds.

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Source: “AOL Sports”