Ashanti Says She’s Ready For More Kids With Nelly
Ashanti welcomed her first child, Kareem Kenkaide (KK), nearly a year ago and the “Baby” singer is ready for more.
“We’re going to add some more,” she teased to E! News. She also hinted at wanting a mini-me. “Definitely a girl to balance it out. I’m outnumbered in the house right now. So, a girl would be great.”
When speaking on motherhood overall, Ashanti gushed, “I am feeling amazing, incredibly pleased, humbled. My life has completely changed for the better. I feel full, you know? My cup is full.”
This isn’t her first time speaking out about how becoming a mother has impacted her acting career. She’s starring in the upcoming film No Address with William Baldwin. Ashanti plays a homeless veteran and credits her son for increasing her sense of empathy.
“Having a child magnifies the love and the humility [that one has for their circumstances],” Ashanti explained. “And, sometimes I’m just so grateful for my mom, cousins, aunties, and family.”
She also shared how it makes her want to help others even more than before. “[Now] I’m like, what else can we do? Can we donate? We have tons of clothes. We’re always giving things away,” said Ashanti.
The singer revealed potential plans to partner with brands and a shelter that helps battered/displaced women and children, adding, “It’s just [an increase] of love. You don’t know it until you experience it, you know?”
Ashanti and Nelly spun the block nearly a decade after their on-off 11-year relationship and welcomed their first child together in July 2024. She’s “hesitant” to reveal his face, but shared that his latest milestones include mimicking and clapping.
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Ashanti Shares Rare Insight Into Family Life With Nelly and Baby Boy
Over a year after Ashanti and Nelly privately tied the knot, the “Foolish” singer detailed home life with her husband and 7-month-old baby boy Kareem Kenkaide “KK” Haynes.
Ashanti is living her best life.
More than a year after the “Foolish” singer and Nelly tied the knot in a private December 2023 ceremony, she detailed home life with her husband and 7-month old son Kareem Kendaide “KK” Haynes. And indeed, their little one has kept them busy with his latest milestones.
“He’s clapping now, he’s noticing everything,” Ashanti effused to E! News’ Will Marfuggi in an exclusive interview that aired Feb. 25. “He loves Facetime. He grabs the phone and puts his whole face into it and starts laughing and smiling. Oh, and he’s standing up in his crib. So he’s holding on and he’s so proud.”
Naturally, Ashanti and Nelly—who is also dad to four adult kids—are happy to celebrate alongside him.
“We clap for him,” she added. “It’s like the best. Everyone thinks he’s going to skip crawling and go right to walking.”
The 44-year-old emphasized that the couple will “absolutely” be adding more little ones to their brood soon enough, adding of bringing her first baby into the world, “I am feeling amazing, incredibly pleased, humbled. My life has completely changed for the better.”
Soon Ashanti and Nelly, 50, will offer an even bigger glimpse inside their life with their upcoming Peacock reality series. As for what fans can expect?
“Love and positive energy and a lot of laughs,” Ashanti explained of what the series will entail. “Just showing the world us.”
In the meantime, Ashanti has been busy working on her upcoming film, No Address, which hits theaters Feb. 28. The “Happy” singer also executive produced the movie—which follows the lives of unhoused people—and considers it a passion project.
“It was just so raw and so real and authentic,” she explained. “I think the message is really important to get out there that this is like a global crisis. I want to do my part and try to spread the message and spread awareness.”
As Ashanti does her part to give back, she emphasizes that she couldn’t be more content with her life alongside Nelly and KK, gushing, “I feel full, you know? My cup is full.”
Keep reading for a look into Ashanti and Nelly’s romance…
(E! and Peacock are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
2003
Nelly and Ashanti first crossed paths at the 45th annual Grammy Awards nomination announcement in 2003.
“The first time I met Nelly, he asked me for my autograph but I think he was being sarcastic,” she recalled during VH1’s Behind the Music special. “I remember writing it down on the program, and that picture has been in so many publications as ‘something else.’ But it all started out as a joke.”
Although, a romance didn’t blossom right away.
“For the record,” Ashanti continued, “it took him a long time to get my number.”
2005
Over the next few years, the “Happy” singer and the “Hot In Herre” artist continued to attend several events together—including each other’s birthday celebrations.
And while Ashanti confirmed to People she and Nelly went out, she made it clear they were “not boyfriend and girlfriend.”
2006
Still, the duo continued to spark romance rumors as they sat courtside at basketball games, went to parties and walked the red carpet together, including at the 2006 premiere for Ashanti’s movie John Tucker Must Die.
2008
And while it may seem foolish to think there wasn’t a connection between Ashanti and Nelly, especially after the release of their 2008 hit “Body On Me,” she insisted their bond was just platonic.
“Me and Nelly, we’re good friends. We kick it–hang out a lot,” she told People at the time. “The industry is very hard, so it’s good to have fun and lighten it up.”
As for any rumors that a wedding was in the works?
“Oh no. Noooo! No engagement,” Ashanti added. “But definitely in the future. Ha! Ha!”
2009
In 2009, reports spread that Nelly and Ashanti had broken up.
“We’re always going to be cool,” he told VladTV in 2010 about where they stand. “We’re friends. It’s definitely something that, right now, my focus is 5.0. Her focus is her album and getting her music and stuff like that together. And I think it’s just one of those things.”
However, the “Just a Dream” rapper continued to play coy about their history.
“To say we split up is to say that we were together,” he added. “Our relationship has been based in the media because it’s nothing we ever said about it.”
2012
However, it wasn’t long before Ashanti and Nelly were spotted together again. Here, they’re pictured attending the 2012 Angel Ball.
2015
But in 2013, Ashanti fueled split rumors.
“Nelly and I are in the space where I’m kind of like focusing on my career,” she said on Hot 97. “He’s focusing on what he’s doing. There’s a lot of things that happened this year. A lot of things went public more than other things have gone public before.”
“I have to do me,” Ashanti, who released her album Braveheart in 2014, continued. “We’re in that space right now. And there were things that were said and things that were done that probably shouldn’t have been said or done but they have been.”
She then confirmed the split in 2015.
“I think sometimes when people have their own insecurities it allows them to act out of character,” she said on The Meredith Vieira Show. “I’ve been betrayed. Again, you just have to grow. You have to grow up. You have to accept responsibilities for the things that you do.”
“I’m not a big fan of people being cowards,” she added. “So I think that it’s just really important to know yourself and understand what you want and get it. You know, I’m in a different place right now.”
2021
Fast-forward to 2021, when Ashanti and Nelly joined Jermaine Dupri, Papoose, Ma, Fat Joe, Ja Rule and Lil’ Mo for VERZUZ: Fat Joe Vs Ja Rule.
The following year, they performed together again, and the John Tucker Must Die star later revealed if she believed in second chances.
“What I will say is I believe that people evolve,” she said on Bevy Smith’s Bevelations. “I believe that people grow. I believe that people learn from their mistakes—some of them, not everybody. You know what I’m saying? I feel like you definitely have to go through something that makes you change in your time.”
As she later put it, “We have to see. I mean, what’s meant to be will be, undoubtedly. Did I think a few years ago that I’d be performing with Nelly on stage? No.”
2023
In 2023, Ashanti confirmed to E! News she and Nelly rekindled their romance, and the “Country Grammar” artist suggested they hadn’t anticipated getting back together.
“We cool again,” he said on Boss Moves With Rasheeda. “I think it surprised both of us, though. It wasn’t anything that was like, I don’t think, planned. I think we both was pretty much doing what we do. But sometimes being separate, you understand one another more.”
2024
Ashanti announces she and Nelly are engaged and having a baby.
“This new year of my life is such a blessing full of love, hope, and anticipation,” she told Essence. “Motherhood is something that I have looked forward to, and sharing this with my family, fiancé, and loyal fans, who have been so supportive of my career, is an amazing experience.”
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Over a year after Ashanti and Nelly privately tied the knot, the “Foolish” singer detailed home life with her husband and 7-month-old baby boy Kareem Kenkaide “KK” Haynes.
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Ashanti Reveals Thoughts on Baby No. 2 with Husband Nelly as She Says Her Life Has ‘Completely Changed for the ‘Better’
The Grammy Award-winning artists welcomed their son Kareem Kenkaide together in July 2024
RODIN ECKENROTH/WIREIMAGE
Ashanti is looking forward to expanding her family.
The “Rock Wit U” singer, 44, spoke with E! News’ Will Marfuggi in an interview about how she feels during this era or her life and shared her plans for expanding her family with musician husband Nelly, 50, who is the father of her 7-month-old son Kareem Kenkaide.
“I am feeling amazing, incredibly pleased, humbled,” she told the outlet. “My life has completely changed for the better. I feel full, you know? My cup is full.”
“We’re going to add some more,” she said, adding that she wouldn’t mind having a girl next. “Definitely a girl to balance it out. I’m outnumbered in the house right now. So, a girl would be great.”
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MICHAEL TULLBERG/GETTY
The “Foolish” singer and her husband welcomed their first baby together in July 2024, sharing the exciting news on Instagram. In the photo, Ashanti posed in her Frida Mom disposable underwear, as she snapped a photo of herself in the mirror sharing what her fourth trimester looked like.
“Ashanti and Nelly welcomed their baby boy, Kareem Kenkaide Haynes, on July 18, 2024,” a rep for the couple told PEOPLE at the time. “The proud and happy parents are so in love with KK!”
In the carousel of photos on her Instagram, Ashanti shared a video of herself in a blue robe, showing off her body as she said, “Four weeks postpartum. You have no idea what this body can do.”
“Funny how life’s plans aren’t…always on time.. lol,” the newly minted mom wrote in her caption. “I’ve been waiting to be a mom for a long time now but nothing could prepare me for EVERYTHING motherhood brings!”
ASHANTI/INSTAGRAM
The Grammy Award-winning artists first dated in 2003, but broke up a decade later. They spent another decade apart before reuniting in September 2023. Describing the moment the rapper popped the question, Ashanti said it was a “beautiful, intimate moment” at home. She joked that her outfit, one of Nelly’s T-shirts and his boxers, proved she was not expecting it at all. The two quietly married in December 2023, ahead of welcoming their first child together.
In an interview with ET, the couple opened up about becoming parents to their son with Nelly saying that it’s been amazing watching Ashanti settle into becoming a mom.
“She’s an awesome mom, to watch someone care about someone else so much and give their all and is willing to give their all,” Nelly said. “Like she said, sometimes it can be too far but you would way prefer to have a parent that goes too far than a parent that doesn’t go far enough.”
