Nas is reflecting on his shortcomings as a father in a new song.
In his new “Runaway” collaboration with Swizz Beatz, the Queensbridge rap legend opens up about fatherhood and seemingly concedes to not doing his best job at raising his daughter Destiny Jones.
“All I imagine sometimes under sunshine or vacation, things I did in my hood, situations, oh well/ Probably was a bad father to my firstborn,” Nas raps in the second verse of Runaway.
“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.”
The “One Love” artist goes on to confess his love for daughter Destiny, whom he shares with ex Carmen Bryan, as well as his 13-year-old son Knight Jones and alludes to his attempts to atone for his past indiscretions.
“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 continues.
This is not the first time Nas has owned up to his parental failings. The 49-year-old, on several occasions, has opened up about his relationship with his oldest child, who was born in June 1994, months after the release of his acclaimed debut Illmatic.
A short list of dedicatory tracks to Destiny Jones include “Daughters” from his 2012 album Life is Good and “Me & You (Dedicated to Destiny)” from his 2004 release, Street’s Disciple.
“Daughters” saw the New York native reflecting on his choices as a dad, with lyrics touching on her evolution as a woman and the tribulations that come with being a parent.
“A box of condoms on her dresser, then she Instagram’d it/At this point I realized I ain’t the strictest parent/I’m too loose, I’m too cool with her/ Should’ve drove more time to school with her/I thought I dropped enough jewels on her,” Nas rapped on the soulful, Grammy-Awards nominated record.
Despite these challenges, it appears Nas finally got the hang of being a great parent. In an interview with BET in 2014, the “Patience” artist talked about his fatherhood journey and even offered his two cents to other dads.
“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,” he said at the time.
“If you’ve never had a kid before, you have no way of knowing what you’re in for. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Nas also admitted that being a dad 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!”
