Ashanti and Nelly welcome their baby boy, Kareem Kenkaide Haynes

Ashanti and Nelly became parents!

This week in an interview with “Entertainment tonight”, Ashanti announced the birth of her first child with Nelly, Kareem Kenkaide Haynes. Despite arriving a bit early on July 18, baby Kareem was surrounded by love when he arrived.

“(The birth) was such an incredible and unbelievable feeling and experience,” Ashanti said in an interview, recalling how Nelly needed to fly in on the last minute for her son’s birth. “Just having all of us in the delivery room and seeing his face for the first time made me cry. It was so emotional and spiritual. I had a vision of that moment for so long.”

“I always wanted kids; I always wanted to get married,” she said. “I just didn’t know I’d turn the corner and be with my ex who I was with a long time ago.”

The couple’s unexpected rekindling of their romance comes nearly 20 years after rumors of a relationship first surfaced. In 2003, romance rumors began circulating between the “Baby” singer and the “Hot in Herre” rapper when the 2 were spotted together on the MTV Video Music Awards. Now, 20 years later, the 2 are married and have a toddler.

“(It’s) just all these emotions happening at the same time, just knowing that this is your person, this is your purpose, this is what it’s meant to be,” the brand new mom added, reflecting on her and Nelly’s journey. “And the three of us together; when we could hold each other, it was such an electrifying feeling. It just validated it all. It was very emotional and spiritual, to say the least.”

But Kareem’s arrival wasn’t the one milestone that moved Ashanti. The “Foolish” singer revealed how adamant and purposeful Nelly was about naming their son.

“His dad gave him the name with great pride,” she explained. “We thought long and hard about his name, and he was very adamant. He said, ‘This is what I want, this is what I like.’”

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Although his first name, Kareem, means “generous, good, noble, bountiful, and dignified,” his middle name, Kenkaide, is a tribute to his maternal grandfather.

“I thought it was amazing and thoughtful and sweet because Kenkaide is my dad’s name and he’s all daughters, so Nelly was like, ‘I think this would be really cool.’ It was his idea.”

While parents proceed to debate who little KK resembles, Ashanti praises her husband for being so “confident, gentle and soothing” to their son. As she adjusts to life as a brand new mom, the singer is pleased with her post-baby body, sharing a little bit of her mommy body on Instagram.

“It’s funny how life plans aren’t always… on time… lol. I’ve been waiting to be a mom for ages, but nothing could prepare me for EVERYTHING that motherhood brings,” she captioned the post. “(…)I’m so proud of my body that my baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby gave me.”

Throughout all of it, Ashanti says motherhood has modified her perspective. Now that her son is her top priority, she describes feeling selfless and protective of Kareem.

“I just feel like I don’t care what it takes… (or) what I have to do, I’m just going to give everything and all of myself to my son,” she said. “It’s just an overwhelming feeling of love and admiration… that little boy has my whole soul wrapped around his finger.”