Kelis’ 3 Kids: All About Her Sons Knight and Shepherd and Daughter Galilee

Kelis wears many hats — musician, chef, farmer and entrepreneur — but her favorite role is being a devoted mom to her three children.

The singer, best known for her 2003 hit “Milkshake,” first became a mom in 2009 when she welcomed her son Knight, whom she shares with rapper Nas. She went on to have another son, Shepherd, and a daughter, Galilee, with her late husband Mike Mora, who died of stomach cancer in 2022.

Kelis and her family moved to a farm in Temecula, Calif., the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, where they grow all their own food and have over 30 animals. In a June 2021 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, the mom of three shared what she hopes her kids will gain from this experience. “To be able to say: ‘I belong here. I own this. It’s mine,’ ” she told the outlet. “I want them to have the proper understanding of what wealth is.”

Kelis is private when it comes to her kids, and she has never shown their faces on social media. She does, however, share glimpses into their life on the farm. As a trained chef (she studied at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu), Kelis also frequently posts about the food she prepares for Knight, Shepherd and Galilee.

In a July 2022 Instagram video, she offered her followers tips for getting kids to eat healthy, including “presenting stuff in a way that makes sense to them.” Of the food her own kids eat, she noted in the post’s caption: “No kids menus in my house, fam. If you want your kids to eat well, you have to start them off early – here’s how 🥦🥗.”

While speaking at the 2015 Los Angeles Women’s Expo, Kelis reflected on how becoming a mom changed her. “[Motherhood] enhances you,” she said, per Essence. “I don’t know if it really changes you. I think it just enhances who you already are. It makes the things that you do make sense. You’re more poignant and more focused.”

Keep reading for everything there is to know about Kelis’ three children.

Knight

The R&B songstress welcomed her first child, son Knight, in July 2009. His father is rapper Nas, whom Kelis was in the process of divorcing at the time of Knight’s birth. Kelis and Nas met at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2002 and got married in 2005. Kelis announced her pregnancy in February 2009 and filed for divorce that April, just two months before Knight was born.

As a kid, Knight was passionate about drawing and superheroes. Kelis frequently shared photos of his artwork on Instagram, and he even had his own account dedicated to his drawings, called @KnightandShining. The account, inactive since late 2019, has a bio that reads: “I am a 10-year-old artist and visionary 🎨.”

In September of that same year, Kelis shared a drawing by Knight of a superhero named “Astroid.” In the caption, the proud mom marveled at her son’s creativity and imagination. “Defender of the galaxy @knightandshining I love his imagination and determination to make every superhero black and with an Afro or a flat top lol the best!” she wrote.

More recently, the teen has helped his mom out around the farm, along with his little brother. “Arise and shine, the boys love collecting eggs on the farm in the morning,” Kelis captioned an October 2020 photo of Knight and Shepherd holding a basket of freshly gathered eggs.

Knight also lends a hand to his mom in the kitchen. In April 2022, Kelis posted a video of herself and her eldest preparing a Moroccan-style lamb dish, noting in the caption that Knight, who was wearing a Spider-Man mask to conceal his face, wanted to help. “If it was live it would be paying for a very expensive massage,” Knight joked during the video as Kelis massaged a marinade into the lamb.

The “Trick Me” singer also creates and sells her own natural skincare products, and she’s passing down the importance of self-care to her kids. In May 2022, Kelis posted a video on Instagram that showed herself and Knight doing their skincare routines together. “Teaching my Knight how to take care of his skin,” she wrote in the caption. “Pre teens and teenagers their breakouts are just part of growing up. But it’s important to start good habits now.”

Shepherd

Kelis welcomed her second son, Shepherd, in November 2015, with husband Mike Mora, whom she had married the year prior.

The singer provided her followers with a rare glimpse into Shepherd’s bond with his older brother on National Siblings Day in 2019. “Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero ! 🦸🏾‍♂️🦸🏽‍♂️☄️,” she captioned a photo of Shepherd and Knight working alongside each other on the farm.

Shepherd is always ready to assist his mom in the garden as well, and she has shared photos of his efforts on Instagram in the past. “Shep worked hard in the garden with me this morning and we had much success… my guy is getting so big! Now time for a fresh salad,” Kelis captioned a 2021 photo of Shepherd holding a large bowl of cherry tomatoes.

For Shepherd’s sixth birthday, Kelis set up a dig site at the farm, noting in an Instagram video that he and Knight want to be paleontologists or archaeologists when they grow up. In the caption, the mom of three penned a touching message about motherhood.

“I love being a mom , I always knew I wanted little ones but I wasn’t the kind of woman to pine over it,” she wrote. “Now I look at my giant who’s 12 and Shep who just turned 6 and little miss muffet now 1 and I think how did I not do this earlier … There is nothing like the joy a mom gets from Making it happen for your little guys. It’s for them but it’s for us too. I just love it.”

Galilee

Kelis and Mora welcomed their second child together, a daughter named Galilee, in September 2020. The singer shared the news on Instagram on Sept. 11 in a video where she revealed, “Hey, so I’ve been kind of MIA, very MIA, but for a really good reason cause I just had my baby!” before noting that her labor was “intense.”

“She’s just the sweetest little thing,” Kelis wrote alongside a photo she posted the following day of the newborn holding her thumb.

A few months later, the singer reflected on having her first daughter. “It’s funny, I have been a boy mom for so long and I was completely content with superheroes , weapons and war games,” she captioned a photo of her and Galilee’s hands. “I would have been thrilled to have another baby boy. But now that she’s her, I looked down at her little hand on mine and I realized I had been preparing for her my whole life.”

She continued: “Having a girl is somehow totally different. And don’t get me wrong , we will still have superheroes, weapons and war games with baby G too. But we will do it wearing diamonds, rubies and pearls !!!!!!”

Kelis was 41 years old when she welcomed Galilee, and she opened up about her postpartum experience during her interview with Harper’s Bazaar. “After I had the baby — I’m 41. It wasn’t the easiest,” she told the outlet. “It wasn’t like when I gave birth to my older son when I was 29. Looking at how I was going to build myself back up, the first thing I started doing was the food, and I was able to get myself back to a place where I felt physically strong again.”

Just 17 days after Galilee’s birth, Mora was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. The photographer died two years later on March 15, 2022, at age 37.

During an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in September 2022, Kelis revealed that her children were “always super aware” of Mora’s diagnosis and were able to “prepare, and love, and say goodbye.”

The singer added: “We were able to spend the time that we needed to, as much as we were given, the best way that we could.”