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Nas Opens Up on VH1’s Behind the Music

Nas talks messy divorce from Kelis, revisits beef with Jay-Z and more.

Joining the likes of Aaliyah, Game, Akon and T-Pain, Nas was the latest artist to be featured on the new season of VH1's Behind the Music documentary series.

 

Last night's episode gave viewers an in-depth look at many of the defining moments in the esteemed rapper’s career, touching on topics ranging from his childhood, his turbulent divorce from R&B star Kelis to his now infamous rap battle with one-time nemesis Jay-Z.

 

While music fans consider the feud between the two rap titans one of the seminal beefs in hip hop history, the doc revealed that Nas originally opted not to respond to Hov's scathing 2000 diss track "Takeover.” It was only after constant pressure from his camp did Escobar issue the fiery rebuttal record "Ether,” which sparked Jay’s “Super Ugly” response. Though they famously squashed the beef at a 2006 concert in New Jersey, Nas said the real reconciliation came during an arranged studio session prior to the concert where the two hit it off after Jay expressed genuine compassion for his foe, who had just lost his mother to breast cancer.

 

"The first thing Jay said to me was ‘Yo, you alright?’" Nas recalled. "I guess he heard about my mom’s passing and beyond everything else he looked at me and said, ‘Yo man, you alright man?’ and I said yo this is a beautiful start right here." 

  

Also on hand to help put things in perspective was an all-star lineup of commentators including Nas’s former manager Steve Stoute, fellow Queens rapper Q-Tip, as well as relatives. The hour-long program also shed light on the rapper’s much-publicized breakup with ex-wife Kelis. The veteran rhyme slinger attributed the divorce to a slew of problems enhanced by the public scrutiny.

 

"I started to feel like the love was gone between both of us," he stated. "I felt like why go on being miserable, you know what I'm saying? So it came to a point where I couldn't take it no more."  

 

Despite the nasty breakup Nas admits that things remain cordial with the ex-power couple after the birth of their son, Knight Jones

 

Rejuvenated after all the personal drama, the 38-year-old rap star is currently pressing forward with plans to release his 10th album, Life Is Good, later this year.

 

Nas's latest single, "The Don," is available on iTunes now. 

 

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(Photo: VH1)

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