! BOOK ONE OF THE NAS TRILOGY !
In building 40-16 of Queensbridge North Housing, Nasir Jones steps up as the man of the house. Looking after his mother and brother, Jabari, he's hungry for a way out. His back is against the wall after the loss of hi...
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"Nasty Nas is no more, would you say?" Big Lez, an interviewer for BET asked me with batting lashes as I held my son in my lap.
BET was airing a rap segment called "Rap City" that included filming behind the scenes footage during the photo shoot for my sophomore album.
"Nasty Nas is still here, baby. He ain't going nowhere yet." I said to Leslie as my son played with the medallion around my neck. "It's just Nas Escobar right now." I laughed as I looked down at my boy.
"And this must be your little boy?" She asked softly as I turned my son around to face Leslie. The camera men moved their heavy equipment around us both to zoom in on my son's face.
"Yeah, this is little Esco right here. Big Des." I said proudly into the camera as I brushed my hands over his waves.
"Say what's up, Des." I said to him as I continued to run my hands over his waves. "Sup!" He said with a smile on his face. "He's a fly little guy." She said with a laugh of shock at how clearly he acknowledged her.
"Do you think daddy is cool?" She asked him.
"Yeah! Daddy's cool." He said clearly as if he were older than his age. Gia and I had been reading books to him and helping him build his vocabulary so that he can get into school earlier than kids his age.
I stuck my fist in front of him as he pounded it. "No way! He knows how to give daps?" Leslie's jaw almost hit the floor looking at our interaction. "No doubt. That's my mini-me, he knows it all." I leaned back in the chair as Destined climbed down from my lap and ran off set with the styling team.
"I think you and Gia have the coolest kid in the game right now." Leslie said with bright eyes. "You think so?" I stroked my chin as I slouched comfortably. "Of course! Now, let's talk about this new album. You just released the first single with Lauryn Hill. Talk about that."
"Oh, yeah! Shout out to Lauryn, man. She heard to song and loved it. She hopped on it and did her thing. We shot the video in Queens and then we took it to Times Square. It was cool." I answered Leslie as I swing my right knee together and apart from my left leg.
"The song is called 'If I Ruled The World', why that title?" Big Lez crossed her legs in the chair she was seated in and listened to my answer intently.
"I think the world knows what was going on with me back in 1995. I was on top of my game. I had my girl, my son, the cars and clothes. And then, I fu— I mean, I messed that up." I caught myself.
"I had time to think on a lot. What would the perfect world be like if I ruled it, you know what I'm saying? So that was the reason I named it that."
"So, you ultimately faced your first public downfall, is that safe to say?" Big Lez was prying. But I'm an honest nigga. I'll give her what she's asking for.
