Ashanti shades Nelly with their 2008 breakup song amidst rekindled romance

Nelly may have won back Ashanti, but he isn’t out of hot waters yet.

As Nelly and Ashanti were celebrating their rekindled romance at a nightclub earlier this week, the DJ decided to stir up some drama by playing Ashanti’s 2008 breakup song, The Way I Love You, that she allegedly wrote about Nelly after their breakup two decades ago.

Videos posted to X (previously Twitter) by The Shade Room show the Grammy-winning rapper and songstress at Atlanta’s Suite Food Lounge, when the mischievous DJ announced that he was going to play his “favourite song” and asked Ashanti to help him out.

When The Way I Love You came on, the unsuspecting couple burst into laughter as the DJ implored, “I’m gonna do it one time, just one time.”

But as Ashanti started singing along to the heartbreaking lyrics, the Hot In Here seemed less enthused, shamefully turning away from Ashanti and playfully giving a thumbs-down to the breakup song.

“After all of the times that we tried/ I found out we were living a lie/ And after all of this love that we made/ I know now you don’t love me the same,” Ashanti sang into the microphone.

Nelly, 49, and Ashanti, 43, first sparked an unconfirmed years-long romance in the 2000s, but broke up in the 2010s.

At the time, Ashanti seemingly revealed on a 2015 episode of The Meredith Viera Show that their breakup came down to “trust.”

Nearly two decades later, the pair have reignited their flame, confirming their reconciliation in early September this year.