Nelly and Ashanti celebrate family heritage and cultural significance with the naming of their son Kareem Kenkaide.
Born on July 18, the arrival of Kareem brought emotional and spiritual joy to Ashanti and her husband, Nelly. The couple rekindled their relationship earlier this year and chose the name to celebrate familial ties and cultural heritage. She added that Kareem, which means “generous, kind, and dignified” in Arabic, was selected with deep thought, a final decision made by Nelly with great pride. The 43-year-old singer shared that Kareem came earlier than expected, prompting Nelly to rush for the birth.
The couple tied the knot in December last year, marking a new chapter after initially dating in the early 2000s and reuniting this year. Kareem is Ashanti’s first child, while Nelly, known for his prominent career in Hip-Hop, has four other children: son Cornell Hayes III and daughter Chanelle from a previous relationship, as well as two children he adopted from his late stepsister, Jaqueline Donahue, in 2005.