Ashanti Admits She’ll Need ‘Extra Hands’ Raising Her and Nelly’s Baby Son While Touring for the First Time as a Mom (Exclusive)

Ashanti isn’t afraid to admit that it takes a village to raise a baby.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the singer and actress, 44, says she’s been loving her time as a new mom to her 7-month-old son Kareem Kenkaide, nicknamed KK, with husband Nelly, and she is already planning ahead when it comes to being a working parent.

“It’s going to be my first time going [on tour] as a mom,” Ashanti says. “Obviously, we need extra hands. There’s definitely going to be extra bags, because I already travel with too much luggage.”

“But [we are going to be] a lot more cognizant of time and [spend more time] preparing, because you just never know what’s going to happen,” she adds.

For most of April, Ashanti will be on the Bring It on Tour across the U.K. and Ireland with Sean Paul and Fat Joe.

She will later join the R&B Forever Tour with Ginuwine, Tyrese and more in Brooklyn that same month, and the “Foolish” singer will then be off to California in early May to join Fabolous, Lloyd, and others for a one-night only concert.

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

With baby KK coming on the road with her, Ashanti says planning each day out and having a set schedule will be super beneficial.

“[I will be] cognizant of time and my surroundings, obviously not having a lot of people in and out, not allowing people to come in with shoes on, just germs and that kind of thing,” she explains. “I’m definitely in Mama Bear protective mode, wanting to protect the baby.”

Luckily, Ashanti says her “momager” — what she calls her mother Tina Douglas — will be there to provide help.

“Momager is not playing no games. She calls herself Tima. Not grandma, Tima. Cause her name is Tina. So Tima will be there,” she tells PEOPLE with a laugh.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Overall, Ashanti says she has been doing great as she continues to adjust to life as a mom.

“Everything’s healed, I’m healthy, nothing crazy,” she says. “It just feels good to be able to just move around and carry my baby, and, you know, make moves. It’s a beautiful thing.”

“The one thing I will say is I really have to carve out the time to, like, really go hard in the gym and get back in there and get back to doing what I do,” she adds, however.

Tickets to see Ashanti can be purchased here.

Source people.com