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.In
a 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. In
a 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.