Ashanti is opening up about her son Kareem Kenkaide Haynes (KK), whom she shares with rapper with Nelly.
During a sit-down with Tamron Hall, the singer reflected on the profound experience of becoming a mother.
“You don’t know that feeling until you experience it, and my mom used to say that all the time,” she said. “So when my child was born, I was like, ‘Oh my God, now I get it.’ You know what I mean? Like, I’m a writer, right? I write records. I cannot put into words the feeling that I feel about my child. So it’s just—it’s unexplainable, it really is. And I’m so grateful.”
Ashanti also revealed that she had taken steps to ensure her future as a mother, even before she knew when or how it would happen.
She shared, “I did freeze my eggs. Yeah, I froze my eggs, and I was like, “Just in case, I have these on stash,” you know? But I’m a firm believer in manifestation and kind of just putting it out there. And that, like you said, is something so vulnerable. So I said, “I want to be married, I want to have kids.”
She continued, “And people were like, “Quoting me, quoting, quoting, quoting,” and I’m like, “Oh gosh, it’s gotta happen now!” But I just believed that it was going to happen. I didn’t know it was going to happen with him, you know? And I kept saying, “Just send me my person, whoever it’s supposed to be—the right person—just send them,” you know what I mean? And he sent them.”
The singer also opened up about the emotional moment she found out she was expecting.
“I cried,” she admitted. “Obviously, I told my parents, told his parents. But my first sonogram—when I had my sonogram visit—I cried. And I was just so overjoyed with love and answered prayers.”
“I mean, it was still scary, you know? But I was just so happy, you know? And it was just—it was like a fairy tale.”
Ashanti also shared an update about her son, who recently turned seven months old on February 18th.
“Honestly, he has both of our personalities. He’s seven months—he turned seven months on the 18th. Oh, look what we did for his seven-month little birthday! Me and Nelly and him took pictures on my Hollywood Walk of Fame star. So we were in LA, and he was holding up his seven-month sign. It’s so cute—I gotta show you the pictures.”
