S. Samuel
Rap veteran Nas helped ring in the new year by throwing a December 31st concert and recreating his Life Is Good cover art last night in New York City.
Performing in front of a packed crowd, Nasty Nas donned a tuxedo and placed ex-wife Kelis‘ green wedding dress on his lap.
Nas rocked a white tux on New Year’s Eve. The dapper rapper rang in 2013 at the famed Radio City Music Hall in the Big Apple, with opener Elle Varner. The night capped off a standout year for the Queensbridge hip-hop king that included releasing the No.1 album Life Is Good. Nas brought the album’s cover art to life during the show, performing “No Introduction” from a black couch flanked in a green dress. He also performed his Amy Winehouse collaboration “Cherry Wine” with the late soul singer on a giant screen behind him. (VIBE)
Last July, “God’s Son” spoke on Kelis’ reaction to the artwork.
“I think I told her about two weeks before it went out. Work was done. Two weeks before it went out,” Nas said in an interview. “At first, she was like, are you dissing me? I was like, ‘Come on man, we grown. There was a time when it was turmoil but I’m not trying to play you and just showing what people know. They know we split. The divorce was public, people knew about it.’ …. Honey’s a good girl and she just caught a bad rap in the whole thing. It wasn’t fair though. I love people that ride with me, because people had to split sides. Her friends had to go with her, my friends [with me]. But at the end of the day, I think they were too harsh.” (Hot 97)
In late June, she publicly offered her take on the album artwork.
“My feelings about it are not really relevant, but you know at the end of the day Nas is an artist. And for whatever it’s worth he’s one of the greatest, and especially for what it is he does. So for me, I feel like especially for someone in hip-hop to kind of be genuine and honest, whatever the honesty is about, I think it’s awesome. So my feelings about it aren’t really necessarily valid, it’s just the fact that as an artist I can respect that he wears his feelings on his sleeve.” (NME)
A few weeks prior, Nas denied speculation which suggested money split them apart in 2010.
“Money was never a thing. Money is money, it’s material. Love is real. Money isn’t. At the end of the day, that didn’t matter. It wasn’t like she came at me like that. The way it came out in public was like that. It just went wrong in a lot of areas,” he revealed in an interview. “I still will marry again. If I get hit by that love, I’ll still do it again. It’s just life. You live and learn and you grow. … Shout out to Kelis. She’s an amazing woman and that’s the mother of my child and she’s great and everything is good.” (“Tim Westwood TV”)
Check out footage from the concert:
