Credit: Mikamote

Two decades into his glittering career, Nas released one of his most mature albums, Life Is Good, in 2012. The Queensbridge rapper reflected on ageing and fatherhood while recording the album, spilling lyrics about life, love, and money. It represents his life’s most beautiful, dramatic, and heavy moments.

He wrote the album following his divorce from Kelis, including her green wedding dress in the cover art. It was influenced by Marvin Gaye’s 1978 album, Here, My Dear, about the soul singer’s breakup from his first wife, Anna Gordy. Nas considers the album one of his 25 favourite projects of all time.

“When I first heard it, no one I knew ever heard it,” he told Complex. “It’s funny that so many people love Marvin Gaye but never knew about this album that was so personal. It’s crazy how my new record has a little bit of that. Motown only put out limited copies and it was a risky record. I think the music industry wanted a more hitting album, but that record he did was his expression. I’m sure he caught a lot of slack from it.”

Nas saw similarities between himself and Gaye after his four-year marriage to Kelis ended badly. “I feel like I’m in the same place that he was at when he made that album,” he said. “I feel like Life Is Good is my Here, My Dear. They’re similar in a lot of ways. I relate to him as a human being, as a star.

“It made me like him a lot more because he was an artist enough to just say what he had to say. I like when he’s talking about Anna Gordy, who he was married to. I know what that’s like. I know what he’s singing. I’ve lived it myself. I really relate to that record.”

The Illmatic rapper spoke more about the first time he heard Here, My Dear, going into detail about Gaye’s relationship with Gordy. Instead of making Life Is Good about Kelis, he used the project to inspire his vessel.

“I’m a big fan of Marvin, and I guess about 12 years ago I heard this album, Here, My Dear,” he told NPR. “Marvin was married to Berry Gordy’s sister. She was older than him and she was sophisticated, she was fly. She had the diamonds, the pearls. She knew how to live and she taught him how to live. She was his love and it ended and he chose to do an album about that when other styles of music were becoming popular at the time.”

Nas added, “He could have took advantage of the new style of music that was hitting. Instead, what he had to do — he had his tax problems, all kinds of things — what he needed to do was give this record to her, the money from the record. But most of all, he turned the record into a record about her. I didn’t want to do that. He inspired me, so I wanted to do it my way.”