Carmen Bryan is an author (actually a good story teller 0r re-teller).

But you might not know her by her government name. Most rap fans know her by the titles and occasions associated with her life. Chief among those are Nas’ First Baby Mom, the girl at the root of Jay-Z and Nas’ beef, and the gas behind the most infamous battle record “Ether.” You probably don’t remember “Carmen’s Got A Gun,” which was a diss rap record she put out on Jay-Z after hearing his verse on Memphis Bleek’s 2000 joint “Is That Your Girl?”

Regardless of what you’ve known her as, Hip-Hop’s Helen of Troy has had her storyline interwoven with Nas’.

Only a few months after he birthed his classic album Illmatic in 1994, Carmen gave Nas his first child Destiny. Bryan maintains that Nas has faithfully paid child support for the care of their daughter.  Now 24 years of age, Destiny no longer receives child support from her rap god dad.  She is out in the world making a way for herself in cosmetics. The millennial has a make-up line called “Lipmatic” that is earning her stripes in the field. Child support ended maybe six years ago and the monies that Mr. Jones sent to raise his daughter was respectfully administered to her care by her mom. Bryan recognized early that the checks were not for new Gucci and Louis bags, but for school tuition, clothing, shelter and all the other things children need to live. In fact, before the child support was over Bryan was in these streets making it happen. Bryan’s first New York Times best-selling book, It’s No Secret: From Nas to Jay-Z, from Seduction to Scandal–a Hip-Hop Helen of Troy Tells All did relatively well for the first time author. But that was not enough. She has had to figure it out taking jobs at record labels and hustling.

Her new book, When The Child Support Stops, is a cautionary tale to women who find themselves connect through a child to a powerful man. It takes a nod at how easy it is to want to live as lavish as the child, the pitfalls of misusing the kid-intended-cash and the misconceptions that parents have about each other when court-ordered arrangements are involved.

This book comes at the right time for the Nas camp. As he continues to wade through this nasty custody and child support battle with his ex-wife Kelis, this book is another proof positive that Nas is a good provider. Kelis maintains that Nas does not pay child support to help their son, Knight Jones. And that he was an abusive partner.  In her …No Secret, Bryan also maintains that Nas was abusive. She writes that once he hit her so hard that she “saw stars.”

Carmen Bryan’s When the Child Support Stops can be purchased here.

The post Hip-Hop’s Helen Of Troy Pens Cautionary Tale, “When The Child Support Stops” appeared first on The Source.