Rapper Da Brat has shared the first photos of her newborn son, as she speaks to People magazine on her journey to having a child.
“Look, this came out of my stomach,” she says, pointing to her tiny newborn, sleeping soundly in the arms of wife Jesseca “Judy” Harris-Dupart at their home in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta. “I cry every day. I just look at him and boo-hoo, because I’m so grateful.”
The legendary rapper Da Brat, who is also a radio host and star of WE TV’s Brat Loves Judy shared the first photos of her son True Legend, whom she welcomed on July 6 with Harris-Dupart by her side, as they feature in People magazine’s “My Extraordinary Family” which will be out Friday.
A month into motherhood, she can’t stop marveling at her journey.
“I’m 49, I’m high-risk, I have high blood pressure. So many women so much younger than me want kids and can’t have them, and I had a successful pregnancy,” she says, tearing up. “It’s just an honor. He’s such a blessing.”
The past few years have been one blessing after another for the Chicago native, born Shawntae Harris. Best known for ’90s hip-hop hits like “Funkdafied” as well as her iconic street style, the star met Harris-Dupart, 41, in 2017 and soon felt compelled to open up about her sexuality.
“I was stuck in the closet for so many years, I thought I would never come out,” she says, “but I met somebody that gave me the courage to live in my own truth. Now I’m happily married.”
Indeed, she and the Kaleidoscope Hair Products founder and CEO wed in fabulous fashion on Feb. 22, 2022. Soon after, they made the decision to expand their family, and Harris-Dupart already a mom of three adult children from a previous relationship, encouraged rapper Da Brat to be the one to carry their child. Though her wife was wary at first, Harris-Dupart says she “knew the pregnancy itself was going to be something she really appreciated.”
Da Brat underwent in vitro fertility (IVF) treatments using eggs from Harris-Dupart and sperm from an anonymous donor. Then, following a heartbreaking miscarriage, she became pregnant with their son.
“I think God plans out our journey,” she says. “I’m very happy He saw fit for me to have him.”
She gave birth via scheduled cesarean section and had “no contractions,” experiencing pain only while receiving the epidural.
“I never want to do that again,” she says, laughing, “but for him it was worth it.” During the delivery, the rapper admits, she “panicked a little bit.”
But Harris-Dupart was there to help de-stress and deejay in the moment. “I asked her to play Biggie [Smalls], but that wasn’t helping, so she played our love playlist. I was able to relax and not think.”
Now the family of three are bonding at home while preparing to launch a new Kaleidoscope Kids haircare line, and the couple are enjoying the shared responsibilities of motherhood. “He made us closer,” says Da Brat, who adds that she and Harris-Dupart take turns getting up in the night with True Legend. “We always change his diaper together.”
She admits it’s a very different life than she ever saw for herself. “Who would ever think this? Da Brat-a-tat-tat from 1994!” she says, hinting at her tough hip-hop persona. “I’m with a beautiful, successful woman who completes me and inspires me to be better. I’m elated to be a mother. I never thought I would be, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I never need another thing in life.”