On the evening of September 6, 2018, Nas posted a series of seven Instagram posts as an open letter to his ex-wife Kelis, focusing on his struggle to spend time with their eight-year-old son, Knight. The accompanying images were entirely blacked-out, blank squares.

Allegedly prompted by the revelation of a potentially slanderous Essence Magazine story, Nas broke his usual silence, discussing their relationship in great detail. He wrote candidly about the allegations of abuse levied against him (and vice versa), how this toxic relationship affected his career and how Kelis has openly defied their custody agreement.