While rapper Nas
is riding a wave of success with his new album Hip-Hop Is Dead, the rapper’s
former girlfriend Carmen Bryan has been hit with a lawsuit over her salacious,
tell-all book It’s No Secret: From Nas to Jay-Z, from Seduction to Scandal–a
Hip-Hop Helen of Troy Tells All.
Ina lawsuit filed in Columbus, Ohio Federal Court, Tannell Davis claims to have
written the book, which originally had a working title of Sex, Drugs and Hip-Hop…Oh,
and Did I Mention Love?"
Bryan, who did stints at Def Jam and Capitol Records, also shares a daughter with
Nas. The
272-page-book tells Bryan’s life story and her role in a vicious feud between
Nas and rapper Jay-Z and her affair with both rappers as well as other trysts.
Bryan
details a secret affair she had with Nas’ one-time rival Jay-Z and claims she
was the inspiration behind a number of hit records written by Jay-Z, including
"Give It To Me, "Is That Yo Chick" and others. The
lawsuit alleges that Davis originally wrote and copyrighted Sex, Drugs and
Hip-Hop…Oh, and Did I Mention Love? and that Bryan plagiarized the original
version and sold the new version to Simon & Schuster under the new titled
It’s No Secret.
Ina recent
interview with AllHipHop.com, Nas shared his views on the book, which hit
stores in November. "In
this game, ya moms can come out and write a rhyme about you," Nas told AllHipHop.com
about the book. "It is what it is, what can you do? People are going to write
books. I hope it’s a best seller. I hope she can buy twelve Bentleys off
of it. Get out of my pockets and do her thing. I don’t respect when people
jump out of their shirt; lose their shirt to cause controversy and stuff like
that. That’s a different world. I’m staying out of it."Davis
seeks an undisclosed amount in damages.
