The buzz has started to surround Nas’ next album. The Queensbridge emcee is saying he’s fully prepared to work on new music soon, adding that he’s in a “zone.” However, he also had more to say about his life during a recent stop at Hot 97. The emcee responded to the CNN article calling him Hip Hop’s “finest emcee,” by agreeing with the label. He also talked about his relationship with Kelis, saying they’re “back together,” before adding, “as friends.”

“I don’t know if I’ve done my best,” he explained, saying he has much more left in his career. “I think what’s next to come is crazy because the zone I’m in is so right, that I’m happy to be in the place that I’m at right now to make music. I don’t know what just got into me but I love it. I’m gonna take advantage of the zone that I’m in when it comes to making this next record. I feel like Ali. I feel like going in so I started to put togethert he base of it and I’m ready.”

This comes on the heels of being named Hip Hop’s “finest emcee” by CNN. Nas responded to this article by saying that he agrees.

“Yeah. Kinda. At first, I was cringing like, ‘What?’ But the way he broke down the article…It is what it is, man. I’ma own it.”

Part of his recent success has come on the heels of some personal woes. The emcee divorced his wife Kelis shortly before releasing his last effort, Life is Good, an event that influenced his content, theme and album cover heavily. However, he says even that relationship has been mended with time.

“We’re back together as friends,” he clarified. “We were not friends. We were not the best friends for a long time. It was crazy. We’re friends now. That’s what it is. We’re not together. We’re friends though.” 

During the interview, Nas also reveals a bit about his relationship with his father. Nas opens up by saying he feels love for his father because he was “always around,” even though his parents were not together. 

“We were always close,” he shared regarding his father, Jazz veteran Olu Dara. “We didn’t always live together. There was the separated home. I grew up with my mom. My mom raised me and my brother. But he was there. He was always around. A lot of my dudes, the pops was not there. So, the fact that we had a relationship that comes from also music too, it was a blessing for me to show that to the world, man.”

More from the interview can be seen below. Photograph by: Scott Gries

RELATED: CNN Calls Nas Hip Hop’s “Finest Emcee”