Original subtitles

Y'all ready to party?

This season on Nelly & Ashanti, We Belong Together.

She got me, y'all.

He wanted to get got.

Goddamn, what's that on your finger?

Here's KK!

KK's our first child.

I'm very protective.

Wake your ass up, it's daddy!

Stop, stop.

My parenting style, just don't burn down the house.

Can we move some of this shit? Like, damn.

I thought I could have it all.

A career, husband, baby.

But it is a little challenging.

I missed you so much.

Get the nanny. Hey, man, I'm rich, man. Listen.

-When his sister comes, then it's gonna be-- -When who comes?

There's a lot of rumors about a second baby.

The elephant in the room is baby number two. What happens?

Not yet. I still need some convincing.

What?

ATL, what's happening?

NELLY WHERE THE PARTY AT TOUR

I'm kicking off the "Where the Party At" tour.

It's way too long.

It ain't enough. Want that money.

He's about to go on tour for 200,000 million days.

With the baby. That's a lot.

Well, listen, it's all you. I ain't gonna even lie.

I ain't got nothin' for him.

Oh, my God.

The wife and mommy side of me is like, fuck!

We are just now going to size his ring.

And he doesn't mind wearing it.

He will wear it.

No way he's going on tour all around the world

without the ring on his finger.

They want me to perform at the inauguration.

What?

I've just always taught to have respect for the office.

I'm doing it. No big deal.

It's a big deal.

Hmm.

Yeah, well, we'll see what happens.

NELLY AND ASHANTI WE BELONG TOGETHER

[tense instrumental]

[Ashanti] Nelly made the decision to perform at the Inaugural Ball.

TRUMP HOLDS VICTORY RALLY BEFORE INAUGURATION

And obviously, people have opinions.

Some good, some bad.

ASHANTI

[production] How did you feel about Nelly's performance at the Trump's Inaugural Ball?

What's next.

[production] Okay, so you don't want to say anything?

No.

If he wants to talk about it, he can.

For me, I'm not talking about it.

[chill trap music playing]

NELLY AND ASHANTI'S TEMPORARY APARTMENT LONG ISLAND NY

[Nelly] What's happening?

2 DAYS AFTER INAUGURAL BALL

You ain't get none of the cake.

No. Did y'all save me some?

-A little bit. -Did KK eat some?

NELLY

He smashed his hand into it, and then he was quick.

He put it to his mouth.

I got most of it off, but I think he got a little bit in there.

Just give me a little piece.

I ain't going to do too much. I just want to see what it tastes like.

You ain't got to cut into words.

I know you all about keeping the word first and all of that.

So this was a six-month birthday party?

Yeah, it's called Halfway to First.

You get the theme? That's why we did baseball.

Only somebody who really don't know the rules of baseball would think halfway to first.

And you literally said that, and maybe that makes sense.

-It does. -Because it makes sense.

Halfway to first base, right?

Halfway to your first birthday.

Halfway to first is out.

It looked like y'all had a great time at the party.

It was so good.

So speaking of parties,

how did you feel about everything with the inauguration?

I felt great. I can't even lie.

You know, it was a little bit of a surreal situation.

I've never seen that much security for anything.

They stopped your car and checking everything.

So we let all the windows down.

-Hey! Air it out. -Air it out.

I think a lot of people would have been shocked to see the diversity that was there.

It's all walks of life, and the men and women in our military,

even the young HBCU band, they were there.

I don't know how they felt about it.

I would have loved to have asked them.

But for me, I grew up playing sports,

and sportsmanship is whether you win or when you lose.

It's just like, in order to bring people together, somebody has to reach across.

I was born on a military base.

I'm a military brat, and I've always been taught to respect the office,

respect chain of command, and there's nothing wrong with having patriotism.

And I think this situation was that.

The campaigning part was over.

This is the President of the United States.

This is the Commander-in-Chief.

This is who our country voted in,

in what we like to call the democratic process.

You know, I pretty much expected to get some talk.

Yeah, just people's comments.

-It's crazy because you'll really... -How do you feel?

Because I don't like, I didn't expect you to come under fire, so to speak.

Right, you didn't think it was gonna be that much?

I didn't expect the evilness just in some of the comments for you and even KK.

You're like, yo, he's not even old enough to vote.

Nelly and Ashanti over there raising a Trump-loving infant and its just very sad.

It's interesting, to say the least.

It's hard, it's hard, because you'd be wanting to scream.

How did I get the blame?

Okay, you want to shoot at me, fine.

I'm way thick-skinned.

It doesn't matter, but when you go

and have comments about my wife or my children or any of my family, that hurts.

And let's be clear,

everybody in my family did not agree with what I was doing, but they respected it.

And I don't really read comments too much, you know what I mean, but it's like,

y'all got me trending, I'm not even, I haven't said one word about anything.

-But I feel you have the right to have your own opinion. -Exactly.

So, and I-- I mean, we can agree, this isn't your first choice,

but I'm thankful and I'm very appreciative that

-you have faith in what it is that I'm trying to do. -Of course.

But the event was good.

You had a chance to hook up with some people who I think

can definitely help in a lot of the charitable things that

I do back home, whether it's with the scholarships,

whether it's with programs to help African-American businesses get a leg up.

-That's amazing. -Yeah.

-You know, I always got a reason. -You always have a reason.

Yeah, I always got a reason.

I think that it is just really important

for people to just understand that people are raised different.

You look at opportunities different and just respect each other at the end of the day.

Obviously, this is both of our first times being married

and becoming one and just the decisions that we make affects the other one.

You know, when you're married, it's a respect thing.

And I feel like this time in our relationship, obviously, we're a lot older, more mature.

Living your life is always a lot,

but living your life in front of the public eye and, you know,

at the mercy of Internet fingers is even more.

So it's pros and cons, just like with everything.

You know, but I think with us, it's more pros.

We gotta always have a reason.

Absolutely.

And we gotta have another piece of cake.

[laughing]

[Ashanti] Man, this cake is so fire.

[upbeat electronic music]

NELLY AND ASHANTI'S TEMPORARY APARTMENT LONG ISLAND, NY

[indistinct chatter]

ASHANTI'S SLUMBER PARTY

-I did the blessing of the food. -Everything looks good.

[Eunice] Ashanti, aren't these called the Nelly wings?

[Ashanti] Yes, that's his favorite.

There has been a lot of stuff happening at once in my life,

and I was definitely stressed out,

ASHANTI

so I'm looking forward to having much-needed bonding time

ASHANTI'S GIRLFRIENDS

with the girls, just hanging out,

leaning on them for a little bit, and just having fun, letting loose and having fun.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

[laughing]

Okay, ladies, I just want to say thank you guys so much for coming out to the Slumber Jam.

[all] Yeah! Woo!

I'm just super grateful and blessed, and I'm very happy that you guys came.

[all cheering]

All right, we should start the games now.

Y'all ready to turn up? I'm ready to turn up.

This is like musical chairs.

The music comes on, and you're gonna dance around the table.

You're gonna dance around the table.

-Hey, hey, hey! -Hey, hey, you're gonna dance around the table.

When the music stops, grab a snowball.

Whoever doesn't have one, you will be out.

-You're out. -No cheating!

Let me put my drink down, because I'm very competitive.

EUNICE ASHANTI'S FRIEND

-Music, please! -All right, come on!

Okay!

Okay! Woo!

[rap music playing] * Oh, oh, oh *

-Oh! -[all screaming]

[laughing]

Oh! Shit, here you go!

[all laughing]

Sisterhood is extremely important.

It's slightly different when you're single versus when you're married.

When you're single, it's like, hey, we at carnival.

You know, we got the outfits on.

It's a little bit more freedom.

When you're married, you definitely still need the girl time, just to kick it.

HOLLIS ASHANTI'S FRIEND

You know, y'all are definitely not in thongs

SOPHIA ASHANTI'S FRIEND

or on the floats in Trinidad, but maybe a one-piece. [laughing]

Wait, some people gotta sit over here?

What the fuck am I, the teacher?

[all laughing]

[giggling]

Yeah.

So I was thinking, guys, doing the slumber party and kind of, like,

taking it on the road kind of vibe and, like, turn it into kind of

a, like, a podcast vibe, you know what I mean?

It's like Ashanti or Shan's Slumber Jam

DEBBIE ASHANTI'S FRIEND

and invite people and, like, us, you know what I mean?

Play the games and talk

and have a girl's thing, you know what I mean?

-So... -[woman] I love that.

Girls talk, what we want to talk about?

Well, how's married life so far?

-Hmm. Is that where we start? -[all laughing]

I'm still kind of shocked that we, like,

obviously we spun the block, we made it back together.

SIMONS LL COOL J'S WIFE

You know, I always thought that they was the cutest thing.

-Yes. -And I was so sad when

I heard that they broke up, and I was like, Ashanti,

are you sure y'all ain't gonna get back together? -She was like, nah.

[all laughing]

Nuh-uh.

I think we both grew up a lot.

You know, it went from when we used to argue.

Fuck you! Fuck you too!

You know what I'm saying? Then we ain't speaking for like a week.

But now, we get into a little something-something...

Y'all don't have a choice.

-Right, there's no choice. -[all laughing]

Well, what time you coming back?

[all laughing]

NELLY

I used to have a very, like, vulgar mouth.

I'm from New York.

You know what I mean? So, like, we speak different.

-Yeah. -So, very early on... [chattering]

No, we nipped that.

Very hazardous to all of our health from the ground up.

-Very hazardous. -'Cause we were gonna burn the house down.

Marriage isn't a game.

You know, marriage is really a lot of work.

And it may sound cliché, but you really, really gotta pick your arguments.

'Cause everything is not worth the argument.

-Yeah. -You know, and that took me time, you know.

That is amazing to say.

Because Dee said to me, when I come in this house, this is my escape.

This is my peace and my sanctuary.

'Cause the bullshit that I deal with out there as a black man,

I should not have to deal with it in this house.

And that makes me think, to your point, Simone, pick your battles.

And he has to reciprocate that for us.

No, no doubt about it.

Because we deal with a lot, too.

-Correct. -Especially when you're a mama bear.

SHASA ASHANTI'S COUSIN

Sometimes they bring their work home or whatever is bothering them home.

And it can sometimes take you out.

You know, but again, you have to pick your battles and you just gotta sit up there.

And what they say, woosah.

I think for me, I like feeling safe.

I feel so safe with Andre.

We've been together almost eight years.

-Yes. -Oh, really?

Y'all ain't have no breakups?

-Uh-uh. -Oh, wow.

Eight years in, we was probably on our third breakup.

[all laughing]

But all together, you guys have known each other for how many years?

Um, let me see.

We started in '03.

So 22-- What? 22 years?

That's crazy. That's a long time.

And then, wait, here is the craziest part.

We still trying to figure out where we're gonna live.

'Cause right now, I'm like in St. Louis, here.

In the bus, really, to be honest.

Where do you wanna live? Here?

I love being in New York, but I ain't gonna lie.

I love the family aspect, you know, in St. Louis, too.

So, I don't know.

You like St. Louis?

I mean, St. Louis is cool. I like the fam--

-[all laughing] -[overlapping chatter]

I mean, no. St. Louis--

All I can say-- as she's talking, all I'm hearing is, Y'all don't have no...

I need my spices!

-They ain't got the same spices out there, now. -Oh, my God.

I'm just kidding, I'm kidding.

But no, I don't know, because, like, the family aspect is good out there.

But you know who's gonna tell you your answer is your CEO, KK.

-Oh, yeah. -'Cause that's your employer.

He's absolutely the boss. He runs the show.

Now that the baby can travel, we are probably gonna be all over the place.

TINA ASHANTI'S MOM/"MOMANGER"

You know, we're gonna have a spot in New York, spot in St. Louis,

maybe a spot in Nashville,

at least until KK starts school.

And you know what?

Where you go, and that baby is, I'll be right behind you, very close.

No, but I get it, 100%.

You have a family now, and you're gonna do what's best for your family.

So, say all the things you got to think about.

-No, definitely. -You got a good support team.

I'm super grateful.

That's why I think sisterhood is so important.

-Yes. -You know, like, we should do this more often.

Get, like, a little check-in, check on everybody.

How you doing? Hi. You know?

[all laughing]

Are y'all available tomorrow?

[all laughing]

[upbeat RnB]

-I got you! -Yes, you did!

ANGIE MARTINEZ RADIO PERSONALITY

Oh, my God. I haven't seen you since the baby. I love you!

I know!

I was praying like maybe she'll bring that baby today.

-[Tina] This is real life, mama. -I got pictures. I got pictures.

[overlapping chatter]

I just want to see him. I haven't seen him--

-I got pictures. -She got good pictures and video.

Angie Martinez is like family.

When Ashanti first started, she was the first big radio person that Ashanti went on,

and we trust her.

All right, this is IRL podcast...

Angie Martinez and Ashanti. Scene one, take one.

Ashanti is back! Guys!

Yo, you are my first reoccurring guest on IRL.

Yes!

We are so invested in your life at this point, Ashanti,

and so much has changed.

I am a mother and a wife now.

Completely different.

What have you learned about marriage?

-What I've learned about marriage? -I mean, it's fresh, right?

-You're not even, like, a year? -No, we a year and change.

Okay. They say the first year is the hardest.

Oh, yeah, we had some arguments.

What about where KK's gonna go to school?

If it was in New York, it would be amazing.

I'm not living in New York.

There's a lot going on down there.

A lot of shit went in today.

A lot of money was spent.

Get up.

It's your turn to change him.

Baby, I give you the world.

-I just ain't changing no diapers. -Oh, my God.

You ain't talking about divorcing me or no shit like that.

Yeah, we had some.

But the thing, too, is, like, we work things out, you know?

It's a blessing to know that, regardless,

you have somebody that's riding with you to the end.

I have to, just because it's the elephant in the room and this just happened.

Irv passing.

Been processing that.

Definitely unexpected.

IRV GOTTI CEO OF MURDER INC

[reporter] Music Mobile, behind major hip-hop and R&B talent, Irv Gotti has passed away.

Irv Gotti, famed music producer and Murder Inc. co-founder, dead at 54

Irv's passing was very sad,

and it hit everybody differently.

So Ashanti was very young when she became a part of Murder, Inc.,

and first of all, Murder, Inc., the name, when she told me that name, I was like, okay.

Then she said, yeah, and we record at the Crack House, and I was like, okay.

Where's my coat? You're going, I'm going.

But we found out that what crack means, that the music is so hot,

it's crack, so they called it the Crack House, and Murder, Inc. was, we murder music.

I thought the way that you responded was so classy.

I just wonder how that has affected you.

It was a lot to process.

Irv and I definitely were not on the best of terms the past few years.

Me and Nelly were dating.

ANGIE MARTINEZ IRL PODCAST 2022

Irv was salty.

Irv would not let me come to the studio to record.

Irv was telling everyone not to record with me.

-You know what he said to me? -What?

He said, you want to be with Nelly?

Go sign to Dirty Auntie. We don't want you.

I personally never want things to end on bad terms, and death is final,

so it made me really sad that we never were able to just be cordial.

I know that I tried a lot, and I wish things would have been different.

Did you think you'd have the opportunity where you could maybe have something cordial?

I really wanted it to happen, because I'm like, we made history together.

You know? That is infinite.

My son is going to know that we made these records together, you know what I mean?

I was really sad, and I'm still sad that, you know, it ended like this.

Our final IRL question, how happy are you today on a scale of 1 to 10?

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'ma give it about a thousand.

Yay! Let's go [indistinct].

Angie was the first person that I spoke to regarding how I felt about Irv passing,

and I guess just because I felt comfortable when I said that my son will know about Irv.

I just feel like it's important.

He's going to know about my records

and how they came about and going into the studio recording

and, you know, the process.

Making history as a new artist is something that is special.

And obviously I want to be able to share that one day with my son.

I think you handled it great.

I think she was happy with it. And it's over with.

Once you do it, you don't have to address it again.

[sighs] I think it was good.

-It was a challenging day. -Yeah.

[upbeat RnB]

TWO DAYS LATER

[Ashanti] I'm actually hot as hell.

-You actually hot. I know it -...As hell.

I know it. But you look good.

ASHANTI

She get, um... What's them?

A faux fur.

NELLY

Oh, no, that's a real fur.

-No, it's fake. -I'm telling PETA.

[Ashanti chuckling]

This is good. It's like. It's weird.

It's like a full circle moment.

-What you mean? -Having a ring.

This is a big thing for you, huh?

Nah, I'm missing out, like...

That thing-- That thing naked.

-What you got for me? -[chuckling] Oh, we got it.

-Yeah? -Yeah.

-I gotta see that. -That thing gonna be heavy.

-That thing gonna be heavy? -Mm-hmm.

The big day is finally here.

We are on the way to pick up Nelly's wedding ring.

I wanted to make it perfect.

It's been about a year.

You know, he's been very patient.

You know how you get your comments?

I'm not really a comment reader.

It's like, where's your ring, Nellie?

I was like, hey, listen...

When you see a married man, like, a man with a ring,

sometimes they're more attractive.

-No. -So that's gonna be a problem.

-I've never heard that. -You heard it.

Tell me more what they say about that.

-[laughing] -So do they...

They said they gonna get they ass beat is what they said.

Do they make you wanna--

They just wanna run up and grab 'em.

-It's ridiculous. -They wanna grab 'em like this.

-Yeah. -Or do they grab like this?

Like all of that, but they get done like this.

Uh-oh.

[Ashanti laughing]

These comments do not reflect...

The Haynes family in their totality.

Only if you mess with mine, they do.

[chill RnB music]

-Hey. -Hi.

LORRAINE SCHWARTZ CELEBRITY JEWELER

-Oh, my goodness. -Oh, my God.

I can't believe this is actually happening.

[Nelly] It's all that for me?

-It's your baby gift. -[Nelly] Yeah.

Lorraine Schwartz: The Woman Behind Hollywood's Most Iconic Jewels

Lorraine Schwartz, a famed jeweler to the stars.

I love her to death. Wish I never met her.

Uh, no. [chuckling]

Lorraine is the dopest, man.

She was always one of those people that were pushing me and Shan

to be together even when we weren't.

I just want to tell you something.

-I'm so excited about the baby. -Yay!

We want you to have something that you carry all the time.

Oh, this is so cute!

-Gold and diamond. -[Ashanti] That's KK.

18 K GOLD NATURAL WHITE DIAMONDS

Listen you guys, we have like a 23-year, like, friendship.

-It's ridiculous. -[Ashanti] It's crazy.

He actually was gonna propose about...

12 years ago, I think.

And they-- he went to Lorraine, they picked out a stone

and things didn't go right obviously back then.

-Wait, wait, wait. Let me see your ring. -[Ashanti] Bam.

-Oh, don't act. -[Lorraine] Oh, we finally see it on you.

You must have somebody really good taking care of you.

[Nelly] I was just gonna say I know some people.

[laughing] I asked for 10 karats last time around,

and this time I got 11.5.

So I guess it was good that I waited.

[Lorraine] Can I show you what we've been waiting to show you?

-Yes. Drum roll, please. -Is this something--

Is this something else?

Is this for me?

It's for you.

Okay. Oh...

Oh!

-Oh, really? -[Lorraine] No complaining here.

[Nelly] Yeah, "I love you."

[Lorraine] Each stone is a carat and a half, plus.

All certified GIA diamonds.

Okay, then.

That thing bangin'.

-Get you one of these sugar mamas, y' all. -Shut up.

I'm telling you.

She fine!

[Lorraine] And by the way, do not let people copy it.

This is copyrighted.

On the inside of my ring, it says "I love you."

So it's I, it's a diamond heart, and then the letter U.

So when I turn it inward,

you can see that it says I love you.

So I did the same thing for his ring.

We twinning.

But my stone bigger. [chuckling]

Look at that. See? Same shape and everything.

-[Ashanti] Same shape. We are connected. -[Lorraine] I feel energy here.

-I feel something. Fire. -[Ashanti] We're a team.

-Fire. -[Nelly] Fire.

-[Lorraine] Yes. -[Nelly] Sugar mama did good.

You are beautiful.

-Don't fuck up the makeup. -Don't mess up the makeup.

-See, y' all about to get me in trouble. -No, we can't do that.

When you guys FaceTimed me together, I almost lost it.

I knew it was gonna happen, by the way.

-How did you know it was gonna happen? -Come on.

I didn't-- We-- neither of us knew or thought it would happen.

It's like the universe was telling you.

When the timing is right, it's gonna happen.

-Well, I was in love with me. -Mm.

Ooh, I feel a song.

"I was in love with me until I saw you."

[giggling]

You guys are both touring a lot now, like crazy?

-[Ashanti] Yeah. -The baby goes with you?

-Absolutely. -Where are you guys gonna live now?

Sometimes we live in New York. Sometimes we live in St. Louis.

Sometimes we live on the bus.

-I don't live in New York. -Oh, God.

Y'all don't have good pizza.

-You know what I mean? -[Nelly] What you mean there?

-There's not-- there's not- -St. Louis--

I love St. Louis. I love it. I love the family.

For as much money we can fly in an Italian family...

-[laughing] -[Nelly] ...Put them up in a home.

-[Lorraine] Directly from Italy, -...Pay--

Pay them a yearly salary and still not pay luxury tax

that we will pay for our house here in New York.

Okay, so then let's do it.

-[laughing] -Where home base is,

that is still a tough question to answer,

but I'm realizing that belonging together does not necessarily mean being

together every day, all day,

'cause it is impossible for us to do that

and continue with our careers.

-I don't think you can be around nobody all day. -Every day, all day.

Hell, no.

You gotta have that...

You gotta miss them a little bit, you know?

So when you come back, it's like, bow.

[Lorraine] So now when's the wedding?

That's the thing we have to get going. We have so much going on.

[Ashanti] Oh, my gosh. We're both unsure.

But she's coming up with ideas.

-[Ashanti] Yeah. -[Lorraine] You know what

they say, happy wife, happy life.

-Happy life? -There you go.

Yeah. Somebody-- who said that, the wife?

I bet that was a wife that came up.

You know what they say? Happy jewel--

-happy jewelry, happy wife, happy life. -Uh-huh.

The tour is definitely moving some dates around

when it comes to the wedding.

I mean, I don't know if we were gonna try and squeeze it in on a weekend.

Hey, come back from Australia for the wedding. [laughing]

We're definitely gonna have the wedding ceremony.

She deserves that. That's her day.

Has nothing to do with us husbands.

The floor-- we're gonna light the floor up when you in town.

-Nobody stands. -[laughing]

We don't get a song.

Babe. We're gonna have a special moment for you too.

-Like Michael Jackson? -Yes, like Michael Jackson.

If I could come down the aisle like Billie Jean.

-That's all I want. -See?

This is to your happiness.

-[laughing] -There you go, there you go.

-[Nelly] Mazel tov! -Mazel tov!

[Ashanti] Our first year of being married,

we've experienced good and bad times.

For me, I think it's like just having patience

and being open minded and picking your battles.

* I was at the top and now it's Like I'm in the basement *

* Number one spot, now she found Her a replacement *

* I swear now I can't take it *

* Knowing somebody's Got my baby *

If you're upset about something or whatever, there's ways to handle it.

This is the first year of, you know what I'm saying,

We juggling and finding out.

So it ain't like we got it down, but it's working so far.

It's working.

* My lover, my life *

* My shawty, my wife *

Check in season 19.

-[laughing] -No, I'm just saying.

* I was thinking 'bout her (Uh), Thinking 'bout me *

* Thinking 'bout us (Us), What we gon' be? (Hey) *

* Open my eyes, yeah It was only just a dream *