Nas Opened Up About 'Mentally & Physically Hard' COVID-19 Battle

Source: Yuliya Christensen / Getty

Nas is the latest celebrity to come forward and share that he too was affected by COVID-19. The “Life is Good” rapper revealed that he an intense battle with the novel virus while in quarantine.

“I caught COVID in late October,” he told EBONY. “This is the first time [I’m] mentioning it. It was a tough time. It was mentally and physically hard. It’s just today’s world, with chemical warfare, crazy politics, racism, food shortages, police malpractice, Black-on-Black murder. The human spirit is being tested. I think that God has a plan for all of this. But right now, we’re in a serious time.”

Even though Esco was hit pretty hard by COVID, once he recovered he was able to craft his 10th album King’s Disease II, which marked his first no. 1 album since he dropped Life is Good in 2012. He was also able to get back to pursuing his quests for generational wealth. Besides his legendary career in hip-hop, the Queens native also has quite the investment portfolio, investing in many startups.  He said generational wealth has been on his mind since he noticed his impoverished surroundings during his childhood. Once he got older, he said he saw his heroes struggle financially as well, making generational wealth more of a goal.

“When did I start thinking about generational wealth?” he ponders. “It was probably as a kid, when I started to watch my surroundings and notice the world I was living in. I had a lot of questions. You see things on television: The Jeffersons, Diff’rent Strokes. Based on that, I started to think about being an entrepreneur. But when I got older, I started to watch how many artists were not faring well at the end of their careers. Kool Moe Dee, who was a king of rap—somebody had played with his finances. Happens to so many of us. I used to think about how that should change.”