By Rob Markman

It’s hard to say goodbye, but Nas has clearly moved on. It’s been two years since God’s Son and his ex-wife Kelis finalized their divorce, but with his latest music video the multiplatinum rap icon kisses his old life good bye and toasts to a new beginning.

The Aristotle-directed “Bye Baby” starts with a familiar scene as Nas sits in a white suit with Kelis’ green wedding dress draped across his knee. It’s the same scene captured on the front cover of Nasir’s latest masterpiece Life is Good. ‘Bye baby, I guess you know why I walked away/ When we walked to the alter that was an awesome day,” he begins to rap as a sampling of Guy’s 1988 track “Goodbye Love.” The video even features performance shots with the group’s lead singer Aaron Hall.

The usually guarded MC marches through a empty home with an open bottle of cognac in hand. He is clearly going through emotions as he stands on the balcony reflecting and then sifting through his ex’s bare closet taking a frustrated swipe at the left over clothes and hangers.

Before he can truly let go Nas digs through old home film, finding footage from his wedding day that he then sits to watch. The video does a great job in creating (or recreating a moment) in Nas’ life. Only he knows how he dealt with his actual break-up, but adding his and Kelis’ actual wedding footage is an excellent touch.

By the third act it’s clear that the strained marriage is beyond repair as Nas and a Kelis stand-in sign divorce papers in the presence of their attorneys. “Listen, can you imagine writing your deposition/ Divorce lawyer tellin’ you how this thing gonna be ending,” he rhymes, marking the scene.

At the clip’s close a confident Nas has moved on, toasting with boys to new beginnings while laughing and grinning ear-to-ear. Life is Good after all.

What did you think of Nas’ “Bye Babye” video? Let us know in the comments!