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Ja Rule is ready to become a grandpa.
While chatting with people at Dream360’s grand opening party in New Jersey on Thursday, Nov. 13, the 49-year-old rapper and actor shared his excitement about becoming a grandpa. The soon-to-be grandfather said he was “very happy and excited” to welcome the new family member.
“It’s a blessing. I’m very, very happy and excited,” he tells PEOPLE. “My first child is a girl, and my first grandchild is also going to be a girl.”
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The “Put It on Me” rapper said his grandson will give him a chance to soften his heart even more.
“If it doesn’t soften enough, I’ll do a second dose, but I’m very happy with it,” he says. “I can’t wait to meet her.”
“It’s weird, when you get older you go back to midget mode,” the rapper added. “You’d like to have a little one at home again. The children are all grown up now, and it’s been a while since we last saw each other, so you and I are having a lot of fun.”
Ja Rule first announced the exciting news during an appearance on The Shelley Show in October that her daughter Brittney Atkins, 30, is pregnant and expecting her first child with husband Tevin Aitken.
“I’m about to become a grandpa,” he said, jokingly adding, “That doesn’t even sound right.”
When host Sherri Shepherd asked him how he learned the happy news, the soon-to-be grandfather recalled how his daughter told him the news, saying it was “so cute.”
“The way she did it was so cute. She put the ultrasound in a box. It was a card that said, ‘You’re now a grandma or grandpa,’ and the ultrasound was inside,” he explained.
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Ja Rule also shared more from the moment.
“And she said, ‘I’ve got a present for you all.’ And we thought it was a real gift,” he says, quickly adding that the news was a gift, but not what they were expecting. “So, we go into the room…and when we open the room, she turns on the camera.”
“You can see it in my expression, you can see it in my wife’s expression,” he added. “And it was a great moment.”
The father of three has already decided on the name his grandchildren will call him.
“I’m going to steal my name from the infamous Big Yeah. I love being called Big Poppa,” he said with a laugh.
After the announcement, Shepard gave him a custom-made cardigan that read “Big Poppa.”
“I love it,” he said excitedly. “Big Poppa is in the building.”
