Nas Speaks Up

“I heard that I was a cheater,” says Nas, who takes on a more determined tone when discussing the matter. “It almost sounds like I was a bad husband. Not to say I was the greatest—I’m not perfect in anything I do—but I think I deserve a fucking trophy. If I do say so myself, without sounding too cocky, I gotta say I was a hell of a husband and a hell of a dad.”

On July 22, Kelis gave birth to the couple’s first child together, a boy named Knight Jones, after 67 hours of labour that she called “three of the longest, most painful days” of her life. TMZ reported that Nas waited outside during the delivery and saw the baby shortly after, despite being turned away from the hospital the night before for being drunk.

The next day, Los Angeles Superior Court judge Louis Meisinger ordered Nas to pay Kelis a hefty US$39,498 in monthly support—$30,471 in spousal support and $9,027 in child support—and $45,000 for her attorney’s fees, according to the Associated Press. It’s a figure based on income declarations and court documents filed by Kelis’s legal team, which allege, among other things, that the rapper pocketed $11 million in a 2006 recording deal with Def Jam. Kelis also claimed that their joint expenses while married exceeded $200,000 per month, that she currently brings in only $21,616 per month in royalties, and that her survival depends on Nas. Nas argued that he only saw about $4 million from the Def Jam deal, and that his monthly income is $147,165, with $71,372 going to expenses.