When it comes to music, Nas always keeps it real with his raps which is why it comes as to know surprise that he’s making a big confession in a new song titled, “Runaway.”
In the opening track of the collab with Swizz Beatz, the New York rapper reflects on fatherhood and seemingly admits he didn’t do his best job at raising his first child Destiny Jones, who was born in June 1994.
Nas raps “Probably was a bad father to my first born/ Love her to death, but I ain’t been home since my first song/ Provided for her, but money can’t replace a father for her.” Aside from that, Nas goes on to express his love for Destiny, who he shares with ex Carmen Bryan as well as his 13-year-old son Knight Jones, whose mother is the rapper’s ex-wife Kelis. “Plus, I got a son, blessed with kids, yeah, man, I adore them/ And I was sure I was gonna leave this life too fast/ I got guardian angles came down and saved my ass,” he can be heard saying in the song.
In Nas’s 2012’s song titled “Daughters,” he also reflected on some of the mistakes he made as a parent. In an interview with Vibe Magazine that same year, Nas spoke about creating that song and his daughter Destiny’s reaction to hearing it.
“She was there when I was recording it. We were in a big studio so Destiny was doing other things, but she walked into the room where I was recording it and heard a few words and said, ‘What’s going on?’ The whole room just started laughing and she kind of smiled and walked backwards out of the room. She didn’t know what it was about and she didn’t want to listen to it, but later on she heard the song.”
“I think she understands where I was coming from. She can hear me saying that I wasn’t always around and I wasn’t always the best dad, but I care. And there are a lot of fathers like me. To me, ‘Daughters’ lets all those fathers out there know, ‘Hey, don’t end up like me in terms of not being there all the time.’ You should really pay attention to the most precious thing in the world. Destiny and I hang out all the time. She never beefs with me about it,” he told the outlet at the time.
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Although Nas had those challenges, it appears he eventually got the hang of being a good parent. In 2014, the “Patience” artist spoke with BET and talked about fatherhood and even offered advice to other Dad’s.
He said at the time, “You’re never ready. You can never say, “I am ready,” you know what I mean? Some people can, but for the most part, you’re never ready. If you’ve never had a kid before, you have no way of knowing what you’re in for. It’s a beautiful thing.” Speaking about the advice his old man gave him, My dad told me ‘Dogs get mad. Man gets a little angry. It means don’t throw your life away over nothing. Have self control.’”
Despite the doubts, Nas admitted at the time that being a father ultimately “teaches you who you are. They say you don’t know yourself until you’ve been in a fight, but really, you don’t know yourself until you become a father. It’s everything.”
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