Nelly was in the hot seat earlier this year when he publicly stated that he wasn’t here for changing diapers and waking up in the night to care for his then-infant son with singer Ashanti. The rapper made said comments during an episode of Peacock’s Nelly & Ashanti: We Belong Together, but has decided to clear the air. The 50-year-old rapper said he was just kidding, and he indeed changes diapers during a recent interview with PEOPLE.
“Excuse me, I’ve always changed diapers,” the “Hot in Herre” artist said. “I think people took a joke and made it into a debate.”
Nelly welcomed Kareem Kenkaide Haynes with his wife Ashanti in July 2024, making baby KK their first child together.
During the PEOPLE interview, he continued, “It was on our show, so if it didn’t come off as a joke, then we are the ones to look at for that,” he admitted. “But yeah, of course I’ve changed diapers.”
The artist did own the way the public could perceive his comments and went on further to explain what he meant.
“My thought process wasn’t like, ‘Yo, I’m not changing the diaper.’ Our conversation was like, ‘Listen, I’ll do whatever needs to be done, but what I’m saying is that I’m giving you the best help I can get with me and a 24-hour nanny.’ See, everybody forgets that part.”
The couple sourced childcare within the family. Ashanti’s cousin, Bri, is the 24-hour nanny in question.
“If anybody has changed the most diapers out of any one of us, it’s Bri,” he said.
This isn’t Nelly’s first rodeo as it pertains to parenting. He has two adult children with his ex-girlfriend, Channetta Valentine, and adopted his late sister Jackie Donahue’s two kids.
The public has yet to lay eyes on KK as both artists have chosen to keep him out of the spotlight.
“I haven’t even posted him on Instagram or anything like that,” Ashanti said while speaking at the 2025 American Black Film Festival in June. “I just feel like those moments are very sacred to me, and we’ll make the decision on when he’s ready to pop out.”
Nelly and Ashanti have become the blueprint for successfully spinning the block, considering their relationship ended over a decade ago, before they eventually found their way back to love. In 2023, they rekindled their romance and secretly got hitched that same year. While this may not be your sign to spin the block, it’s at least good to hear Nelly is willing to change diapers and do his part as a father. Because boy did he ruffle some feathers…