Ashanti First Album
Ashanti (album) - Wikipedia. En.wikipedia.org Ashanti is the debut studio album by American singer Ashanti. Released on April 2, 2002 by Murder Inc. Records and Def Jam Recordings, the album was recorded in New York and Los Angeles between 2001 and 2002, during the period of time where Ashanti was writing for other artists.
Born in Glen Cove, New York to mother and former dance teacher Tina Douglas and father and former singer Ken-Kaide Thomas Douglas, Ashanti has a creative upbringing. She attended the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Centre at a young age where she studied dance including tap, jazz, ballet and hip-hop, and later in her teens began singing regularly at various New York shows. The singer’s big break came in 2002 when discovered by hit maker Irv Gotti, who teamed Ashanti up with Fat Joe and his single “What’s Luv?” and Ja Rule’s “Always on Time”. The two singles were released simultaneously and led to Ashanti being the first female artist to occupy the top two positions in the chart. Before long she released her debut solo single entitled “Foolish”, which became instantly popular, the single was her biggest to date, spending ten weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. With the success of her first three singles Ashanti and Irv Gotti’s Murder Inc. Record label released Ashanti’s debut album “Ashanti” in April 2002.
The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, has been certified triple platinum in the U.S.
And catapulted the singer to a mainstream world of magazines covers and publicity. Before the end of 2002 Gotti produced a remix of “Foolish” with the Notorious B.I.G. Which again hit the charts and represented Ashanti’s domination of the R&B world in 2002. Her follow-up “Chapter II” in 2003 saw the singer reach the top of the charts once again, largely due to the success of the lead single “Rock wit U (Awww Baby)”.
However due to Irv Gotti’s Murder Inc. Label coming under some intense scrutiny by the FBI and a feud with 50 Cent’s G-Unit the album got ignored somewhat. The same year the singer released her first Christmas album entitled “Ashanti’s Christmas” and her third full-length LP “Concrete Rose” came a year later in 2004 with the lead single “Only U”. In 2005 Ashanti made her acting debut in the film “Coach Carter” which opened at No.
1 at the U.S. In 2008 came her fourth studio album “The Declaration” which unlike her debut album which she wrote the majority-of herself, Ashanti enlisted the help of Akon, Babyface and Mario Winans in production. The album debuted at No.
6 in the albums chart led by singles “The Way That I Love You” and “Good Good”. After a time focusing on her acting and musical appearances including staring as Dorothy in a stage production of “The Wiz”, Ashanti released her fifth album “Braveheart” in March 2014, two years after its initial single was released. Two of the biggest R&B/pop crossovers of the early noughties came from Ashanti; her collaborations on ‘What’s Luv’? With Fat Joe and ‘Always on Time’ with Ja Rule would lead to the latter describing her as “the new princess of hip hop and R&B.” Signing to Murder Inc. Records after being spotted by label boss Irv Gotti, she was seen as crucial to their strategy for crosing over into the mainstream.
Her self-titled debut record was a huge success, selling six million copies worldwide and spawning hit singles including ‘Foolish’ and ‘Happy’. Since then, though, Ashanti’s struggled to replicate that success; follow-ups Chapter II and Concrete Rose struggled, primarily because of the lack of a big single (although I maintain that the Jay Z-sampling ‘Rain on Me’ from the former is one of her finest moments). With her first record in six years, Braveheart, meeting with a strong critical response and cracking the U.S.
Top ten earlier this year, though, she might well be poised for a comeback; she’s back out on the live circuit with a full band, with a couple of well-received UK shows late last year setting the stage for a more high-profile return to these shores - expect Murder Inc.-era classics as well as a slew of new material. The commercial success of Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas is often overlooked due to the fact she has not topped the Billboard charts since her first two albums 'Foolish' and 'Chapter II'. Yet many do not tend to notice the fact that the following three releases all charted within the top 10, no easy feat in a constantly changing US market. Now an R & B superstar in her own right, the fanbase do not care if the albums chart at #1 or #101, they will have their copy and will be at the front of the barrier to sing along with Ashanti. She really does bring a show every time she steps onto stages with an array of backing vocalists, rappers, musicians and dancers creating a real experience for the fans. All the fan favourites including 'What's Luv?' And 'Down 4 U' are included this evening yet the new tracks such as 'She Can't' and 'Early in the Morning' are jams in their own right.
She entertains for an energetic set pushing 90 minutes and finishes on an electric rendition of 'Always on Time' which receives screams and cheers from the audience.
Ashanti is a name of, at least, two artists: 1. A popular R&B singer from Glen Cove, New York 2. Role play scripts. A group from Berklee, Massachusetts 3. An singer from Jakarta, Indonesia and should refer to 1) Ashanti (born Ashanti Shequoiya Douglas on October 13, 1980 in Glen Cove, New York, United States), is a Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, record producer, actress, model & fashion designer who has been performing since 2000. Ashanti is most famous for her eponymous Grammy Award-winning debut album which featured the hit song. The album set a Soundscan record as the most albums sold by any first-time female artist in the chart's history, outselling debuts.
Later that year, she was acclaimed as the 'Princess of Hip-Hop & R&B' by the media and capped off her successful debut by winning eight Billboard awards and two American Music Awards. Ashanti cites,,,, and as her musical influences. Praised as a gifted songwriter by her peers and critics alike, Ashanti has written/co-written the bulk of all her music.
She is currently working on her own record label entitled Written Entertainment. It was when she was noticed by Murder Inc. Mastermind Irv Gotti that Ashanti began to blossom. Gotti noted her dancing and acting abilities in addition to her vocal skills. In 2001, Ashanti was first featured as a background vocalist on rapper 's song. In the same year, Ashanti was featured on fellow labelmate 's singles.
She also appeared on the 2001 The Fast and the Furious soundtrack as a featured artist on 's 2001 hip hop remake of 's and on the solo track. She appeared as a background vocalist on, a collaboration by labelmate and (she also appeared in the music video for, the 2nd duet between Lopez & Rule), and was featured on 's and 's. And were released simultaneously and became two of the biggest hit songs of 2002.
Ashanti became the first female to occupy the top two positions on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart when and were number-one and number-two respectively. Following the success of her collaborations with and, Ashanti released her debut single,, which contained a sample of the 1983 song by (also utilized by in his 1995 hit ). She became the second artist (after the ) to have their first three chart entries in the top ten of the Hot 100 simultaneously. Ashanti's self-titled debut album,, was released on Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. Record label in April 2002. It debuted at number-one on the U.S.
Billboard 200 albums chart, selling over 503,000 copies in its first week (the most successful first week sales for a debut R&B female artist up through that point–record later broken by 's ). The album has been certified 3x platinum in the U.S and platinum (300,000 copies) in the UK. The album has sold over 6.5 million copies worldwide. Ashanti penned all 12 songs on the album, most written on-the-spot in the studio. Ashanti's follow-up singles, and, were not as successful as her debut single but did peak in the top ten and top twenty in the U.S. During the summer of 2002, Ashanti appeared on 's with labelmates, female rappers. The song appeared on a Murder Inc.
Compilation titled Irv Gotti Presents The Inc. Ashanti's debut album earned her many awards including eight Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, a Lady of Soul Award for 'Aretha Franklin Entertainer of the Year,' and a Grammy Award. In July 2003, Ashanti released her second album,, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 326,000 copies in the U.S. The album went Platinum, selling 1.5 million copies in U.S. The album's success was somewhat eclipsed, however, by all the negative drama surrounding the Murder Inc. Camp at the time (i.e., the FBI investigation and the G-Unit feuding). 's first single,, became a hit, peaking at number two on the Billboard Hot 100.
Its video, which showed Ashanti in a bikini frolicking on a beach and riding an elephant named Bubbles, was nominated for two 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. A remix of the song contains interpolations of 's. The second single,, reached the number-seven spot on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot 100 R&B Songs chart. Was nominated for a 2004 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and and were nominated in the categories of Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, respectively. At the end of 2003 in November, Ashanti performed at The American Music Awards and was nominated in two categories. In November 2003, Ashanti's Christmas album, was released.
The album containing 10 Christmas songs, six classic covers and four she wrote herself. To coincide with the release Ashanti premiered a video for the album.
While on BET's 106 & Park, Ashanti said the concept of the Christmas Album came from a guest spot she did on Steve Harvey's radio show. While playing a game with Stevie Wonder, he began playing Christmas medleys on the piano and Ashanti began singing them, giving her label head the idea to push for a Christmas Album. Ashanti went into the studio to record the album during the summer of 2003. According to soundscan, the album sold just around 100,000 units in the U.S. Before was released, did some major promotion for her single, when she premiered it at the 2004 Vibe Music Awards. In 2004, Ashanti was invited back to perform at VH1's Divas 2004.
She appeared on stage with,,, and others. She performed ' single ', and she performed a soul-influenced rendition of 's funk driven '. Later that year Ashanti collaborated with male R&B newcomer and labelmate on the song, which was released as his debut single and was a moderate hit.
—with and —peaked at number five in the U.S. And at number one in the UK, and, reached number thirteen on the Billboard Hot 100 and became her biggest hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number two.
A second single, the ballad, garnered little chart success after Def Jam refused to fund a music video due to Irv Gotti's legal troubles during his money laundering trial. Ashanti used her own money to deliver the second video to her fans, with Gotti acting as director. The single was released only in the U.S., where it failed to chart, and the UK, where it reached the lower end of the top forty. In 2005, Ashanti graced the stage at the MTV Japan Music Awards, where she performed her hit single,.
She also won a Style award during the show. She performed alongside huge acts like and Korean star. In December 2005, Ashanti released a remix album of Concrete Rose titled. It features six remixes of previously released tracks and four newly recorded songs, including the single, which features rappers. The album was an opportunity for her to fulfill her contract with Def Jam (and have the option of working with another label), and did not fare well on the charts. Her fourth studio album,, was released on June 3, 2008.
Ashanti ventured out and acquired producers and collaborators primarily outside The Inc. For the first time.
She said the album was a representation of the freedom she felt she had at that time in her career. 'I'm steering my own ship and taking the lead on everything. You can definitely hear the growth; I'm working with producers I've never worked with before'. Irv Gotti was quoted as saying, 'she's having her little Janet Jackson Control moment. Every artist has their moment when they feel they need to take over their own music and this is hers'. The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 with sales of 86,000 copies, Ashanti's lowest first-week sales for a studio album.
As of September 2008, The Declaration had sold 230,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. Two singles released during 2007 in advance of the album's release— featuring, and featuring —did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
Ashanti First Album Cover
Reached number eighty-seven on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and the third single, the L. Hutton-produced, reached number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and peaked at number thirty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The final single, the Jermaine Dupri-produced, became a minor urban hit, peaking at number thirty on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Also featured on is the collaboration, which is the third single from his 2008 album. In May 2009, Irv Gotti announced that he was officially releasing Ashanti from The Inc. Records, stating that 'The relationship has run its course.
The chemistry of what's needed — we're in two totally different places. You're talking to somebody that took her and shaped and molded her and put her out there for the world, and it blew up.
We for the selling debut by a female R&B artist — 503. My views and philosophies and her views and philosophies are not meeting up.' Gotti also admitted that he and Ashanti have not spoken to each other in a long time. A rep for Ashanti did not respond. Ashanti confirmed via twitter that she is currently in the studio working on her fifth album, that is being released off her own record label Written Entertainment.
Ashanti All Songs
Ashanti is rumored to be working with a slew of producers and artist, thus far this is all that has been verified LT Hutton, Dr. Dre, Deshaun, Game, Theron Feemster bka Neff-U, The-Dream, Cool & Dre, Warryn Campbell, Carvin & Ivan, Common, Darkchild and Tank who co-wrote and co-produced with her the song Paradise. Ashanti’s new single & album is set to be released sometime in 2011. 2) A 'latin jazz' combo (formed 1983, Berklee Music College, MA, USA), named in honour their music's African / roots, with current members: (bass, vocals), (drums, vocals), (trumpet,, ), (saxophones), (piano, keyboards, vocals), (percussion), (vibes, hand percussion, drums) & (saxophone). Releases inc: ' ' (2004), ' ' (2003) & ' ' (Jul 2001). Former members: (guitar), (guitar), (saxophone), (saxophone), (vocals) & (percussion). Version 30, edited by Deleted user.