Nelly and Ashanti take different approaches to parenting.
The married couple put their lives on display for Peacock’s new reality series Nelly and Ashanti: We Belong Together, and now they’re opening up about where they differ when it comes to parenting their 11-month-old son, KK.
“For me, obviously this is my first child,” Ashanti, 43, tells PEOPLE, describing herself as “very mama bear-ish” with KK, whose full name is Kareem Kenkaide Haynes.
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“We have to boil everything and sanitize everything. Everything has to be organic. His sheets are organic, his socks, food-grade silicone, everything,” continues the Grammy-winning singer. “I’m just very, very protective.”
Nelly, 50, was already a father to four other kids — Shawn, Chanelle, Sydney and Cornell — before welcoming KK with Ashanti, whom he quietly married in December 2023. “I think I understand a little bit more about children,” he says. “They learn more on their own.”
The rapper describes Ashanti as “motherly overprotective,” while he considers himself more “safety overprotective.”
He explains, “I know if they don’t learn certain things by the time they reach a certain age, we’re going to pay for that, I promise you. And it’s going to backfire on us in a big way.”
The “Hot in Herre” musician jokes of their future, “Right now I know she’s loving it, but that boy turns 17 or 18, she going to be like, ‘Why is he acting like this?’ And I’m going to ask [Ashanti’s mom and manager, Tina Douglas] for that video of him being three. And I’m going to say, ‘You see this right here when he used to…'”
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More seriously, Nelly notes Ashanti is a “great” mom to KK. “I have no complaints. I wish all mothers could see the way that she get down a little bit,” he says. “You wish every kid had that type of love.”
Throughout the reality series, Nelly opens up about struggling financially in his childhood with parents Cornell Haynes and Rhonda Mack. He hopes to provide KK with a different kind of life.
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“I’m just trying to be a better father than I had. And don’t get it twisted, I love my father, but I’ve been through a lot,” says Nelly, adding that Ashanti has “some tough shoes to fill” while praising her mom, Tina.
“Yeah, Momager is a whole different beast,” quips Ashanti. “I’m very grateful.”
Nelly and Ashanti: We Belong Together is streaming now on Peacock.
