Despite being divorced for nearly a decade Nas and Kelis’ union has been revered in the hip-hop community. While Nas has been vocal about their split in his music with his last album Life is Good, Kelis has remained tight-lipped about their relationship. Now the singer-turned-chef has shared her side of the story in an exclusive interview with Hollywood Unlocked where she detailed alleged “mental and physical abuse” from her former husband.

Kelis filed for divorce from the veteran rapper when she was seven months pregnant with their son Knight. While many believed she split with Nas because of cheating she revealed it was way more than that.

“I didn’t file for divorce because of cheating,” she revealed. “He had been cheating for two years and I knew that. It was because on top of all the other stuff, then you’re gonna cheat? Okay. This is too much. Then it was really toxic and I was pregnant, so at seven months pregnant I was terrified. I cannot bring a person into this. This is a frickin’ mess, and I can’t control this. I gotta get out.”

The “Bossy” singer alleges that things would get mentally and physically abusive. That they would have fistfights, drink and smoke too much and just led a very unhealthy relationship. She admitted that had she not been pregnant she would have likely stayed in the relationship longer.

“It was really dark,” she stated. “There was a lot of drinking. There was a lot of just mental and physical abuse. It just got to the point where…for me…God is so good because had I not been pregnant, I probably would have stayed longer. Because I really did love him and we were married. We weren’t dating, we were married. This was my person.”

Kelis also said that the domestic assault between Rihanna and Chris Brown helped to make her realize she was in a toxic relationship. She said that on the night the pictures of Rihanna’s battered face were publicized she too had bruises all over her body.

“Something reminded me of Rihanna,” she asserted. “I remember so clearly when the pictures came out with that whole thing that happened with her and Chris Brown. The only way I can describe it was like double dutch. Do I jump in? Do I say it? I had bruises all over my body at the time. That day I remember being in Atlanta, sitting in the kitchen…I wasn’t ready to walk.”

Kelis said she remained silent because she doesn’t consider herself weak and she is naturally just a private person. You can hear her speak about her custody battle and alleged abuse starting at the 13:00 mark in the video above.