Lil Nas X announced the death of his mother, Tameka Hill, with a short Instagram tribute and three family photographs from different points in their lives.
The 27-year-old musician shared the news on August 29. “RIP TO THE BADDEST EVER! LOVE U FOREVER MOMMY. this one’s gonna hurt,” he wrote, according to PEOPLE.
The carousel included a portrait of Hill, a later photo of mother and son together at an event and an older childhood image of Nas with his mother. He did not disclose Hill’s age, when she died or a cause of death.
Nas, born Montero Lamar Hill, had rarely spoken at length about his mother in public. When he did, he described a complicated relationship shaped by addiction, frustration and love that had not gone away.
His Tribute Reached Back to Childhood
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Nas kept the announcement brief. Rather than writing a long statement, he let the photos carry much of the history.
One image showed Hill looking directly at the camera. Another showed her and Nas dressed up together in sunglasses. The oldest photo showed Nas as a child beside his mother and another child.
TMZ also reported Hill’s death after Nas posted the tribute Saturday morning and noted that no cause had been made public.
Nas Had Spoken About a Complicated Relationship
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In a 2020 interview, Nas said he and Hill were not especially close because of her addiction. He also said his attempts to help her had not worked the way he hoped.
“She’s an addict, so we don’t have the closest relationship,” he said at the time, according to PEOPLE. “Even trying to get her better — things didn’t quite work out. But there’s still love.”
The subject surfaced again in 2021 after people online questioned whether he was helping his mother. Hot 97 documented since-deleted posts in which Nas wrote about feeling guilty because nothing he tried had changed her situation.
His father, Robert Stafford, also defended him publicly. Stafford said Nas had gone to great lengths to make sure Hill was cared for and wrote that addiction could not be fixed simply by having money available.
He Put Some of That History Into His Music
Nas later brought pieces of that family pain into Montero, his 2021 debut album.
On “Dead Right Now,” he addressed the strain around his mother’s addiction while also writing about people and relationships that changed after his fast rise to fame.
The song gave him one place to process material he usually avoided discussing in interviews. His August 29 tribute did not revisit those details directly.
Hill’s Cause of Death Has Not Been Released
As of August 30, neither Hill’s age nor the cause or circumstances of her death had been publicly disclosed.
Nas’ post stayed focused on his mother herself. The caption was only one sentence, but the photos moved from childhood to adulthood and gave fans a rare look at the relationship he had usually kept private.