Nelly Compares His First Time Dating Ashanti to Taking a 'Test Drive' Before Buying a Car

Published: June 26, 2025

The Grammy-winning artists first dated in 2003, broke up a decade later, and spent another decade apart before reuniting in September 2023. Now, they're costarring on Peacock's new reality series Nelly and Ashanti: We Belong Together and opening up about the reason their relationship works.

Ashanti tells PEOPLE that after their initial breakup, they needed "time" apart before rekindling their relationship in 2023. "You grow. It's about the good outweighing the bad," explains Nelly. "What you thought mattered a lot, once you go through other scenarios, you realize that's not really as big of a deal as you thought it would be."

Nelly adds, "Or you get something that you thought you were missing, and it still doesn't compensate or fill a void, and you're like, 'Damn, I thought that would mean more,' but that doesn't. It's just growth."

The rapper also released a country single inspired by the rekindled relationship, "Spin the Block," featuring the lyrics, "When we said goodbye / Guess it wasn't what we really meant / 'Cause mile after mile / I keep passing up places we been / And we kicked up some dust and got stuck in some mud / But we got back to us in the end / Yeah that look in your eyes looks like this old truck / Like we spinning the block today."

Nelly jokes that their relationship is like taking a test drive before buying a car. "Everybody don't get a chance to, if you could say, take a test drive," he says with a laugh. "It's like when people say, 'You should always test drive a car before you buy it.' I hate to minimize that because this is real life, so you don't want it to feel like that."

Ashanti, chuckling, chimes in, "It's a good metaphor."

In addition to welcoming each other back into their lives, the pair now shares a son, KK, 11 months. One thing you won't see on Nelly and Ashanti: We Belong Together, however, is the baby's face.

"For me, just as a new mom, being a mama bear, I was like, 'I'm going to keep my little precious baby close to the vest,'" says Ashanti of the decision.

At the moment, she's not sure when they'll share KK's face with the public. "We're coming on a year now. His birthday is July 18th. And I don't know, we got to talk about it and see how you feel," says the "Always on Time" artist, gesturing to Nelly.

Nelly, on the other hand, isn't sure they'll have the choice to reveal KK's face themselves. "They're going to catch our ass outside and take a picture," quips the "Hot in Herre" musician. "That's what's going to happen."

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