AceShowbiz -

Dating R 'n' B singer Ashanti for quite a long time, it wasn't until recently that Nelly broke his silence about their relationship, saying their romance is 'serious.' "That's the thing between me and her, we just like having fun," the hip-hop artist told People at the Lavo club in Las Vegas, where he was celebrating his 34th birthday recently.

"I think it's always serious when you can hang with a person continuously and [still] have fun," Nelly continued saying. He didn't go into further details though.

And when music producer Clinton Sparks asked him about a possible future marriage, Nelly answered, "I think we both are married right now. We're both married to our careers you know what I'm saying, we making it happen."

He then told Clinton that while he's celebrating his birthday, Ashanti was "in Japan putting on some hell of a shows right now and she's working now. She called me a dozen times so it's all good." Quizzed on the birthday present she got him, Nelly admitted, "I don't know yet. I haven't seen it. She's in Japan right now. But she'll be here tomorrow so we'll see what happens."

In spite of their celebrity status, both Nelly and Ashanti have never discussed their romance publicly. And aside from their love life, they have collaborated on each other's music project.