Illmatic, the debut album from acclaimed rapper Nas, is turning 20 this week. So the Queens-born rhymer is at the center of quite a bit of attention, with many outlets paying tribute to the landmark 1994 album that put him at the vanguard of ’90s hip-hop. One person who doesn’t seem to be sharing in the nostalgic bliss is the rapper’s ex-wife, singer Kelis. The New York Times spoke to the “Milkshake” songstress about another Nas album, 2012’s Life Is Good, his first solo album after their acrimonious and highly publicized divorce. Nas famously posed with the green wedding dress that Kelis wore for their nuptials, but Kelis was sure to clarify some things about that famous cover — and her feelings regarding her ex-husband.
“It’s not even the dress,” she said regarding the green frock Nas is posing with on the Life Is Good cover. “The joke behind that is that it’s the slip to the petticoat to my dress. I think when I moved out I just left it. That’s all he had, poor thing.”
According to Kelis, she’d been given a couple of days notice that the cover would feature that green slip, and when asked if she understood why Nas wanted to be pictured with it, she simply responded that she has “all kinds of ideas of why, but I don’t really care.”
She denied that the cover — or being asked about the cover — brought up any old, hard feelings for her ex.
“Maybe for others,” she claims. “But not for me. I don’t really listen to his music anyway.”
Kelis was also asked about the Sheryl Sandberg-led campaign to ban the word “Bossy,” which was the title of her hit 2006 single.
“Bossy? Give me a break. Obviously there are a lot more sensitive words that I can think of that I’ve been called. ‘Bossy,’ to me, is not one of them. But to each his own,” she said.
