Kelis shocked the hip-hop world this week when she broke her silence and accused her ex-husband Nas of being abusive during their five-year marriage.
Opening up to Hollywood Unlocked, Kelis talked about extremely violent and toxic moments from their relationship.
“We had really intense highs and really intense lows,” Kelis says. “It was never normal. An intense high would be when money was rolling in. We were young. But I was 22 when I met him. I was a baby. We were drinking too much, smoking too much. We were too much. We were spending too much. We were balling too much. We were living too hard. So when that comes down, it goes really low. There’s no balance, there’s no normalcy.”
But she also broke down why she chose to wait eight years since the celebrated couple’s divorce to say something — and it appears that she was fed up.
“I’ve hit a wall,” she explained of her tumultuous relationship with her ex. “It was this morning. I was like, ‘and I’m done. I cannot’.”
She added: “I have no more patience to give…I have nothing left to give. I am physically done with the situation. I’m done.”
The “Milkshake” singer says that protecting her privacy was a major reason why she had stayed silent for as long as she did.
“I don’t like airing out my dirty laundry,” she said. “I don’t like people in my business.”
She continued: “In all honesty, I was also afraid because…I know I could never fight him as ruthlessly as he would fight me.”
Kelis also points out that because Nas had little involvement in her life —and the life of their son— until two years, she never thought she would have to fight him. Their son Knight will be turning 9 later this year.
“I’m not like him,” she says of Nas. “I am married, I have two beautiful children…I am super content and I am really blessed…and I rebuild.”
The legendary rapper has yet to comment.
Watch the full interview below:
