Nelly and Ashanti transformed the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards into a date night, celebrating both Nelly’s prestigious Landmark Award and their growing brood.
The power couple, who secretly married in December 2023, couldn’t help but fawn over their infant child, Kareem, during interviews on the red carpet.
Monthly photoshoots and First Birthday Plans
In an exclusive interview with Extra’s A.J. Andrews, Ashanti shared her lovely custom of planning monthly photoshoots for their kid, who will be one this summer. Nelly, on the other hand, said that Kareem appears to have already had “eight birthday parties.”
“Man, this boy had more birthday parties than me,” the rapper remarked, referring to Ashanti’s dedication to documenting every milestone.
Ashanti soon clarified, “These aren’t birthday parties. Every birthday month, they hold photo shoots. “That is what it is.”
Nelly went on to say, “I’ve been trying to save him from the photoshoots.” “When he grows up and sees all of this, he’ll be like…”
“He’s going to adore it,” Ashanti chuckled, as Nelly jokingly replied, “Blackmail. I’ll adore it for blackmail.”
Is baby number two on the way?
While the pair is enjoying motherhood with their first kid, Ashanti has hinted that she might be open to extending their family soon. During a red carpet interview with E! News, she stated she would consider having “one or two more” children.
How did Nelly respond? “Must be getting another nanny,” he joked, eliciting laughter from both Ashanti and the journalist.
Despite his comic tone, Nelly plainly enjoys parenthood. Ashanti applauded him for being a caring and dedicated father, stating, “It’s really amazing to see the love and emotion. I mean, he has it with all of his children, but clearly, KK is the baby right now. So it’s lovely to watch.”
Nelly is no stranger to parenthood; he already has two children from a previous relationship: Chanelle, 31, and Cornell, 26. He also took in his late sister’s children, Shawn and Sydney, after she died from leukemia in 2005. However, watching Ashanti embrace motherhood for the first time has been a unique experience.
“She’s waited so long,” he confessed. “Now she’s tackling motherhood with the best attention she could, anyone could give, and she’s killing it.”
