Nas wanted to create an "old bluesman vibe" on his new album.
The ‘Cherry Wine’ rapper poses with the wedding dress of his ex-wife, Kelis – who divorced him in 2009 – draped over his knee on the cover of ‘Life is Good’, which helped him to portray the message of the music within.
He said: "People have heard about my divorce, if people want to get on the internet and talk about it, then it’ll happen.
"For me doing the cover for the album felt very therapeutic. I’m a storyteller, and it has that old bluesman vibe to it. I have so much to say on this record about myself personally. That’s the blues. My record cover, that’s the blues."
Nas has collaborated with his jazz musician father, Olu Dara, on a number of tracks, and says he has blues roots deep down inside him.
He added to NME magazine: "You can hear the blues player inside of me. Hip-hop is finally getting some years behind the careers of the artists. The earlier artists didn’t seem to last too long. Today it’s different. My plan is to do music every time I feel it. Doing that has probably made me the longest lasting hip-hop artist."
‘Life is Good’ is out now.