After nine years, Kelis is ready to tell her side of the story. In a new interview with Hollywood Unlocked, Kelis describes an allegedly abusive relationship with her former husband, Nas, while they were still married.

Kelis went on to describe how Nas's drinking contributed to the alleged physical altercations.

"Did he hit me? Mmhmm," she said. "Did I hit him back? Mmhmm. It was because he would black out. He would drink too much. He drank way too much. He'll never admit it."

The Tasty singer then revealed she almost came forward in 2009 after seeing the photos of Rihanna after Chris Brown assaulted her.

"I remember so clearly when the [Rihanna] pictures came out…'cause I had bruises all over my body at that time," Kelis said, while starting to tear up. "I wasn’t ready to walk. I just wasn't. I'm not weak. I’m really private. I don’t like people knowing my business. I felt like, 'This is my partner. I chose this. We're gonna do this. We’re gonna make it work.' I stayed for years after that."

Nas and Kelis got married in January 2005 after two years of dating. In 2009, she filed for divorce while seven months pregnant with their first child. Nas's 2012 album, Life Is Good, dealt with the repercussions of his highly publicized divorce on songs like "Bye Baby." During a 2009 "RapFix Live" episode, the Queensbridge MC discussed the fallout of their marital split.

"No one's exempt from people probing into your life once you get into the game," Nas explained. "So [the divorce] put a lot of my business out there, man. People weren't thinking I was making that kind of money, and now they knew."

Watch Kelis's entire new interview below.