Congratulations were in order for Love & Hip Hop: New York star Kimbella Vanderhee and Dipset rapper Juelz Santana, who welcomed their baby girl on July 21, 2012.
The couple named their daughter Bella Monroe James. She weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces at birth.
Juelz proudly announced his daughter’s arrival on social media, sharing a photo and promising that she would always be able to depend on her father.
“7 lbs., 3 oz., 7/21/12. You won’t ever need [anyone] for anything because Daddy got you!”
The emotional message marked a softer moment for the Harlem rapper, whose real name is LaRon Louis James.
Kimbella’s Pregnancy Was Revealed on Love & Hip Hop
Fans had already become familiar with Kimbella through the second season of Love & Hip Hop: New York. Her pregnancy was revealed during the season’s reunion special, shortly before she stepped away from the show.
At the time, Kimbella and Juelz were already raising their son, Juelz Santana James, who was born in 2010. Bella became their second child together.
Kimbella’s time on the reality series had been filled with plenty of controversy, confrontations and complicated friendships. However, her pregnancy announcement shifted attention toward a much happier chapter in her personal life.
Who Is Juelz Santana?
Juelz Santana rose to prominence during the early 2000s as a member of the Harlem-based rap group The Diplomats, better known as Dipset.
Alongside Cam’ron, Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey, Juelz helped shape the sound and image of New York hip-hop during that era. He became widely recognized through appearances on Cam’ron’s hits “Oh Boy” and “Hey Ma,” as well as his own songs, including “There It Go (The Whistle Song).”
His relationship with Kimbella would later become a recurring storyline on Love & Hip Hop: New York.
Their Family Continued to Grow
Kimbella and Juelz’s relationship experienced several public ups and downs over the years, many of which played out on reality television.
After dating on and off for approximately a decade, Juelz proposed to Kimbella onstage during a Dipset performance at Harlem’s Apollo Theater in November 2018. They married in a private ceremony on January 10, 2019, surrounded by family, friends and several familiar faces from hip-hop and Love & Hip Hop.
Later that year, they welcomed another son, Santana James, making Bella the couple’s only daughter together.
In December 2022, Kimbella publicly announced that she and Juelz had separated after nearly four years of marriage. Regardless of how their relationship evolved, the birth of Bella remains an important part of the family story fans watched unfold for years.
Congratulations again to Kimbella and Juelz on the arrival of their beautiful baby girl!
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