Kelly Rowland consistently opens up about her life as a parent, and now she’s showing fans a new side by landing the cover of Kindred by PARENTS’ first-ever digital issue, the Black Joy Issue.
Rowland intimately shared aspects of her life raising two sons, Titan and Noah, that fans have never seen before. She discussed her mother’s parenting, how she plans to raise two Black boys, and the importance of having a village to raise a child!
It Takes a Village
Fans learn that Rowland was raised by a single mother, and had an estranged relationship with her father. Her mother was a nanny, just like her grandmother. Although their work kept them busy, Rowland always felt love from her village. She was quickly accepted by Beyoncé’s mother, Miss Tina —whom she fondly calls “Mama T”, and other family members who helped raise her. She shared that she is grateful to have the same for her sons.
“I’m so grateful for my village,” she explained. “My husband’s mother is a wonderful part of our village, my Mama T is a part of my village, of course. My sisters [from Destiny’s Child] are a great part of my village. When they come in the house, me and Tim don’t exist. It’s more so, ‘Where the babies?’ It’s that first.”
Kelly Rowland on Raising Black Men
Rowland also stressed the importance of raising respectful Black men in today’s society.
“I just want to get this right,” she began. “I want to really be a part of bringing some really amazing young men forth into the world,” she continued. “That was my only prayer. I don’t know why I’m emotional, but my only prayer was to have really great young Black men. Black men who were sure of themselves and didn’t have to be told who they were. I really cared about that because the narrative is tough as it is.”
She shared she learned parenting tips from other celebrity friends like Beyoncé and Ciara. The songstress credited one piece of advice she learned from late rapper, Nipsey Hustle.
“I wanted my boys to have integrity and I got that from Nipsey Hussle,” she said. “It’s amazing to me that he would talk to his kids about making the right decision when no one is watching. That was everything. Nobody knows how much or how hard you work but you do it because you love it. I want them to be the kind of men who are proud of themselves. That’s really important to me—being good decision-makers,” she shared.
She explained that she learned everything from her mother, and understands her process of raising young Kelly Rowland.
“Somebody told me recently: ‘I just want you to know your mom’s really proud of you.’ The first thing I thought about was how I am with my kids because I’ll see a mistake and I want to fix it immediately,” said Rowland. “I feel for her, her journey and motherhood because it was so stressful and she handled it the best way she knew how.”