Born to the rapper Nas (a k a Nasir Jones) and his ex-girlfriend Carmen Bryan, Jones was just 17 when she found herself in the spotlight. That’s when she tweeted an extensive collection of condoms on her nightstand, as well as a photo of her first car — a white Mercedes-Benz — captioned “Cocaine.”
A backlash ensued, with concerned fans questioning the fatherly role Nas played in his daughter’s life.
“I didn’t realize how many people were paying attention to what I was doing,” recalls Jones, now 21 and a sophomore at LA’s Art Institute of California, majoring in fashion management and marketing.
“All I saw was my own little world. I have grown up a lot and learned a lot from every life experience.”
These days, Jones is serious about making a name for herself with the launch of a line of lip glosses named Lipmatic — an homage to her dad’s acclaimed debut album, “Illmatic,” released in 1994, the same year Jones was born.
Her first collection (released in 2013) borrowed names from the album’s song titles, but her new line of colors — including Brooklyn Brownstone and Sunrise in Harlem — are nods to NYC. (They retail for $14 at lipmatic.com.)
“New York and hip-hop are always my inspiration,” says Jones, who was raised by her parents in LA but frequently visited Queens, where her dad grew up.
A lover of makeup since the age of 4, Jones would raid her mom’s closet — and cosmetics bag — to play dress-up. But as she got older, her dad didn’t approve.
“My dad would stop me from leaving the house, and say, ‘Where are you going? You are too young to be wearing makeup,’ ” she says.
Today, the two are close.
In 2012, Nas dedicated his song “Daughters” to her, in which he addressed their disagreements — including her writing letters to a man in jail — and rapped, “I ain’t tryna mess ya thing up, but I just wanna see you dream up.”
“I didn’t know my dad was making a song about me. When I found out about it, I was like, ‘Oh my God,’ ” she says. “But I like the song. It came from a place of love.”
Now Jones is more careful about her choices — she declines to address rumors of a relationship with Eric Ebron, 22, of the Detroit Lions.
“My dad has never met any of the guys that I’ve dated,” says Jones. “But I do feel bad [because] when that day does come, the poor boy will probably pee his pants. My dad does not play.”
That’s not the only pressure a famous dad brings.
“Because of who my father is people are wishing for me to succeed and just as many are wishing for me to fail,” she says.
“But I wouldn’t trade my dad for any another. His name will make you look, but Destiny is the one that will make you pay attention.”