(August 27, 2024). News is out that R&B singer Ashanti and her rapper hubby Nelly gave birth to a bouncing baby boy in July. His name is Kareem Kinkaide Haynes (Nelly’s birth name is Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr.).
With his birth, the infant joins his four adult half-siblings (Nelly’s older children from previous relationships, two of which were adopted from his late stepsister) in a newly expanded family that was consolidated when the two aughts superstars secretly married last December.
Related: Ashanti and Nelly were secretly married for six months.
But, upon entering the world last month, the young Kareem also instantly became the first and only child who can flex about his parents both making some pretty dope history in the early 2000s — 2002 to be specific — before they’d even met and decades before he was even a twinkle in their eyes.
Double-K (as I’ll dub him here for editorial purposes only) is the product of a relationship that was more than two decades in the making. Ashanti and Nelly first met and began dating in 2003, broke up ten years later and reunited in September 2023, finally making it down the aisle three months later.
The relationship’s roots can be tied to the 2003 Grammy Awards where they were introduced at a press conference for the 45th annual ceremony. That year, both Ashanti, now 43, and Nelly, 49, were nominated for their 2002 albums, both of which enjoyed blockbuster success in the preceding twelve months and both of which would place the two young upstarts in the record books.
It is that combined success, which included several Herculean Billboard chart feats by both acts, that makes their union and their resultant unique place in history so remarkable, one which their newborn can wear as a badge of honor when he’s old enough to recognize the significance of what his parents accomplished.
Indeed, if he could talk now, I can imagine the conversation might go something like this:
“Hello world? It’s your boy, Kareem — the baby with the flyest parents around. I’m not even outta diapers yet, but I’m already living that legendary life, thanks to Mom and Dad. See, they’re not just regular folks—they’re the real deal, chart-topping royalty. And if you didn’t know, you will soon.
“Let me break it down for you: Back in 2002, my folks weren’t just vibing — they were killing the game. Both of ‘em hit No. 1 — twice — on the Billboard Hot 100 that year, and yeah, there was that one time when Pops slid right past Mom for the top spot. It’s all love, though—they’re a team now, and they both owned that year like no one else.
“But hold up, it gets better. Not only did they each have two No. 1 singles, but they also both dropped No. 1 albums selling more than half a million each in their first weeks.
“Talk about stacking W’s!
“And as if that wasn’t enough, they scooped up some shiny Grammys the next year for me to play with. The Grammys is actually where the magic first happened — yeah, with how great their 2002 went, they were destined to meet up, fall in love and eventually have me. So what if it took 21 years to happen, I’m here now… and your boy is basically destined for greatness with the high bar my folks set!
“Now all I need is a cool mash-up name for my parents like other celebrity couples get – like the twice broken-up Bennifer (for Ben and Jennifer) or Brangolina (for the former Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie union). What do you think? Ashantelly? Ashantly? Nelshanti?”
Indeed, Double-K has much to flex about.
No other married couple in pop music history — whether it occurred before or after their nuptials — can claim the collective accomplishments Mom Ashanti and Dad Nelly can, thanks to their big year. Not Sonny and Cher, not Bobby and Whitney, not Carly and James, not Marilyn and Billy, not the Captain and Tennille. Not even Cardi and Offset.
For starters, both mom and dad had No. 1 albums and two No. 1 singles apiece in 2002. Ashanti got the ball rolling with her chart-topping collaboration with rapper Ja Rule, “Always on Time,” which held court for two weeks that February and March.
The Ashanti explosion continued when she co-wrote the Jennifer Lopez “Ain’t It Funny (Murder Remix),” also featuring Ja Rule, which replaced “Always on Time” at the top.
But that was just the beginning for the artist who before “Always” had never charted and before 2002 had never even released an album.
Quickly capitalizing on their R&B/hip-hop princesses’ instant success, Ashanti’s label Murder Inc. released her debut solo single, “Foolish,” which sped up the charts and eventually knocked Lopez’ “Ain’t It Funny” remix from No. 1. (Ain’t it funny how both Lopez and Ashanti rekindled two-decade-old relationships with former beaus… and with such drastically different outcomes?)
But back to the charts in ‘02: Ashanti’s trifecta meant she either sang or had a hand in writing three consecutive No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, easily the first time a female act had accomplished that feat!
What’s more, while “Foolish” occupied the top slot for ten (!) weeks — tying Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life” for the most ever by an unaccompanied female’s debut single — half of those weeks held court over yet another Ashanti song, “What’s Luv?,” a Fat Joe collaboration on which the Murder Inc. princess was featured.
The No. 1 and 2 punch of “Foolish” and “What’s Luv?” made Ashanti the first woman to occupy the top-two Hot 100 positions simultaneously, something the late Donna Summer narrowly missed doing (twice) in 1979, and something several women have since been able to pull off, including Mariah Carey, Ariana Grande, and, of course, Taylor Swift.
The success of “Foolish” and the other songs built anticipation for Ashanti’s self-titled debut album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 that spring and sold more than 503,000 physical units (before digital downloads and streaming were a thing!) in its first week, the most by a female debut artist up to that point.
All of this made Ashanti the act to beat in 2002, having dominated the charts for essentially the first six months of the year. And just when it seemed no one was equal to the task, along came Nelly, the St. Louis rapper whose breakthrough two years earlier paved the way for monster success with his sophomore album, Nellyville.
That No. 1 album, which outdid Ashanti’s with an even bigger debut week (715,000 units) was introduced by “Hot in Herre,” the fun summer anthem that mercuried its way up the Hot 100, finally reaching its boiling point on the chart dated June 29th where it unseated none other than future wife Ashanti’s “Foolish.” It’s the kind of thing that the late American Top 40 host Casey Kasem would have salivated over had they been married then (and if his countdown show still used the Hot 100 as its basis).
But it wasn’t enough for Nelly to displace his future bride on the chart. Nels was on a course to replace himself at the top as well with his followup single that featured another woman, Kelly Rowland — then of Destiny’s Child — on the rap ballad “Dilemma.”
“Dilemma” quickly came up from the rear and sat at No. 2 behind “Hot in Herre” for a week before it knocked its predecessor out of No. 1 on August 17, making Nelly the first male solo act in a lead role to simultaneously occupy the top two slots and the first one to replace himself at No. 1. “Dilemma” would match the seven-week consecutive run of “Hot in Herre” at the top before yielding for two weeks to Kelly Clarkson’s coronation song from the debut season of American Idol, “A Moment Like This.”
But even Clarkson’s big moment couldn’t outshine that of Nelly, whose “Dilemma” returned to the top for three more weeks, bringing his total to ten for that song and seventeen total weeks for his two hits combined. “Dilemma” also matched his now-wife’s “Foolish” for the longest No. 1 run of 2002 at ten weeks apiece.
Nelly and Ashanti’s combined number of weeks at No. 1 in 2002 was 29. In retrospect that’s the most any married couple — or set of parents for that matter — has dominated the Hot 100 in a single year, accounting, of course, for marriages that took place after the fact. And though they weren’t yet married — or hadn’t even met when it occurred — it’s a perspective and bragging right their new family addition can uniquely claim given his bloodline.
Indeed the new power couple — Ashantelly or Ashantly or Nellanti, if you prefer — had a magical 2002 full of record-breaking, year-defining, jaw-dropping achievements. And while it may not be well-remembered or even make for exciting convo at their dinner table some 22 years later, here’s hoping that Baby K someday knows just how special his parents’ chart achievements were — and still are — in the lore of early 21st century pop culture.
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog and on Meta’s Threads.
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