Kayden Gaulden
At one time, Kayden ‘Draco’ Gaulden was one of the best-known babies on the hip-hop scene. As the firstborn son of Baton Rouge prodigy NBA Youngboy (birth name Kentrell Gaulden), Kayden was welcomed to the world on 4th July 2016, when his father was just 16 years old – and his mother, Nisha, as young as 13.
As far as we’re aware, Kentrell and Nisha were never in a serious relationship prior to her becoming pregnant. In fact, Kentrell had already begun dating Starr Dejanee, the mother of his third son Kamiri. (Until 2018, Kentrell was also believed to be the father of Starr’s son Kamron; however, a paternity test was taken and proved negative).
In any case, Kentrell and Starr’s relationship was very much on-and-off, as the aspiring rapper also became involved with a young woman named Delicia, and had a short-lived fling with Nia Loveless, mother of his second son, Taylin.
Childhood
At the beginning of his rap career, Kentrell was a proud father who often mentioned his sons in his music – and given that Starr, Nisha, and Nia all came from Baton Rouge or nearby, Kayden was raised alongside Kamron, Kamiri, and Taylin. The four boys were all born between July 2016 and July 2017, with Kayden being the oldest and Kamiri the youngest. With that said, it took some time for Taylin to be welcomed into the fold, as Kentrell refused to acknowledge him until a paternity test was taken in late 2017.
Despite Starr being Kentrell’s ‘official’ girlfriend and living with his mother Sherhonda and siblings Teelee and Kendell, they broke up sometime in early 2017 while the rapper was incarcerated and facing first-degree murder charges. Starr continued to be supportive of her child’s father, and often promoted his music; meanwhile, Nisha was so private that many people had no idea who she was.
In fact, to this day, there are hardly any photos of Kayden’s mother online, and some fans theorize that Kentrell wanted to keep her as far away from the limelight as possible, due to the age gap and how young she was when she gave birth.
Upon being released from prison in May 2017, Kentrell immediately got back to work on his rap career as thousands of fans eagerly awaited his new music. The Baton Rouge native didn’t disappoint, with new singles such as “Untouchable”, “41”, and “Call On Me”. Over the years, Kayden would feature in many of his father’s music videos – “Through the Storm”, “Drawing Symbols”, and “Astronaut Kid” for examples.
In late summer 2017, Kentrell’s newest relationship – this time, with a high-school student from Texas named Jania Meshell – made him more appealing to female audiences, thanks to their cute couple snaps and Instagram Lives. Jania almost immediately left her studies behind to follow Kentrell as he toured the US with his sons, and although it’s not confirmed whether Nisha, Starr, or Nia were present, Jania was apparently more than happy to play the stepmother role, and take care of the boys while their father was performing.
Many times, Kentrell also performed onstage alongside Jania and Kayden, which sparked some criticism due to Kayden being just over a year old, and being exposed to such loud music. Although the rapper was also put on blast for uploading videos of his son in the car without a car seat, the complaints fell on deaf ears.
Siblings
As mentioned, Kayden had developed a close bond with Kamiri, Kamron, and Taylin due to their proximity in age, and the four boys all growing up in the same town. Although Kamron was proven not to be Kentrell’s son in April 2018, the rapper and his family members continued to consider him one of their own.
However, Kentrell’s private life began spiraling out of control in late 2018, and not just because of his numerous legal issues. In a matter of years, he went from four children to 11 – and counting. The first confirmed pregnancy was in September 2018, when he and Jania revealed that they would be expecting a child despite having broken up months prior. The child in question, Kacey Alexander Gaulden, was born in February 2019.
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Between 2018 and 2019, Kentrell was in a number of highly-publicized relationships with Instagram models and celebrity offspring such as Blasian, Dej Rosegold, and Yaya Mayweather. However, many of his fans considered these relationships to be one-sided, as Kentrell rarely acknowledged any of these girls, and would often allow them to argue online amongst each other.
This changed in May 2019, when he made his relationship with Kaylyn Marie public. Although the pair were separated shortly afterwards due to Kentrell being arrested and incarcerated, Kaylyn moved into his house and was present at Kayden’s third birthday party, proving that she was very much there to stay. When Kentrell was released in September 2019, it didn’t take long for Kaylyn to start teasing a baby bump.
A few months later, Kayden’s mother Nisha also shared that she was pregnant. Although many fans of the rapper hounded Nisha regarding the identity of her child’s father, she kept quiet and stayed out of the way until June 2020, when she gave birth to a daughter named Armani. The story took an even more surprising turn when, shortly afterwards, Kaylyn – who had also ‘given birth’ weeks prior – confessed that she’d miscarried earlier in the year, but pretended to still be pregnant.
It was a shock for Kentrell’s long-time listeners and the general public when they realized that he and Nisha had got back together and welcomed a second child together. However, it took Kentrell years to acknowledge Armani, and Nisha preferred to take the high road and not discuss the delicate situation. (Since then, she has had a third child with another man, however, next to nothing is known about this baby, as Nisha is no longer active on social media.
As for Kentrell, he made headlines for all the wrong reasons when two of his ex-girlfriends – namely, Yaya Mayweather and Drea Symone – confirmed that they were pregnant by him at the same time. Drea’s daughter, Kodi Capri, was born in November 2020, but the “Outside Today” hitmaker has barely been present in her life, and was rumored to have signed over his parental rights shortly after her birth. Meanwhile, Yaya proudly announced the birth of her son, Kentrell Jr., in January 2021.
If you’re finding it hard to keep up, that makes seven children so far: Kayden, Kamiri, Taylin, Kacey, Armani, Kodi, and Kentrell Jr. Since then, the rapper has added four additions to his ever-growing brood: Kaell was born to Arcola, a music video model and long-time fan of the rapper who famously got his name tattooed on her face; Alice Love and Klemenza (born to Jazlyn Mychelle, Kentrell’s long-time girlfriend who became his wife in January 2023), and a baby of unknown name and gender, who was born in April 2023 outside of his marriage.
Obviously, Kayden isn’t as close with his youngest siblings, as most of them are located in different states. Because of this, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see all the Gaulden kids under the same roof. Over the years, Kentrell has also stopped being ever present in his children’s lives, as he’s currently serving a lengthy house arrest sentence in Utah, where he’s accompanied by Jazlyn and their son and daughter.
